Laird, Cink tied for lead at Shriners

Laird, the 2009 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open champion, would like to hold the Waterford crystal trophy again come Sunday. He certainly gave himself a chance after Thursday’s opening round of 7-under-par 64, which had him at the top of the leaderboard along with Stewart Cink.

Russell Knox is one shot back after a 6-under 65. Six others are tied at 66. Defending tournament champion Webb Simpson was 2-under at 69 and is tied for 38th place while Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion, shot an even par 71 and is tied for 79th going into today’s second round.

“I’ve played here enough and understand the golf course a bit to know some of the holes you can just accept pars and some of the holes you can be aggressive,” Laird said. “I did that nicely (Thursday) and hopefully I can keep that going.”

Laird’s bogey-free round included seven birdies, the biggest perhaps his 40-foot putt at No. 18. Cink had the top of the leaderboard to himself at the time only to find himself with company as Laird’s putt snaked in.

“I putted unbelievable on the front nine but the back nine I didn’t make as many putts,” Laird said. “So it was nice to birdie the last. If I had made par there, I probably would have felt like I had left a few out there.”

Laird is looking to rebound from a disappointing 2013-14 season. His game deserted him as he failed to maintain a consistent rhythm and he wound up finishing No. 127 on the PGA Tour’s money list.

“Last year, I didn’t hit it very well,” Laird said. “You don’t ever want to have those lulls. But a couple of guys out here said to me, ‘That’s golf. Don’t worry about it.’

“There are ups and downs and very few people get up to the top and sit there for 10 straight years. But I kept working on my game and the biggest thing is I’m enjoying playing golf again. I made a change to my posture and that took a while, but now I’m swinging it a little more like I used to.”

Cink, who made the turn at 2-under Thursday, birdied two of the final three holes in his round of 64. What made him happy was it came in his first round of tournament play for 2014-15.

“On the first day of the year, you never know what’s going to come out,” he said. “It’s been six weeks since I last played but I stayed patient and waited for a good stretch.”

Cink went through a run where he made par for seven straight holes. And while he left a shot or two out there, he didn’t mismanage things to where it cost him strokes.

“You have to remember it’s a long week,” he said. “You have to remind yourself its not a downpour of birdies from the very beginning for the guy that ends up winning this tournament.”

Like Laird, Cink finished strong with a birdie at No. 18. His putt was just nine feet, but his second shot, coming from 167 yards away from the pin, put him in position to make the birdie putt. Unlike Laird, Cink had a solid year in 2013-14, making the cut in 21 of the 25 events he played and recording six top-25 finishes. But he hasn’t won since 2009 when he captured the British Open and he’d like to improve on his 76th-place finish in last year’s FedEx Cup standings.

“It could have been a very good year,” he said, reflecting on last season. “I played well the first opening couple of rounds in a lot of tournaments and got myself in position and then didn’t have very many good weekends. I’d go through some rough patches that lasted four or five holes where I shot myself out of tournaments too many times. It’s something you just have to work through.”

Knox said he left a few shots out on the course Thursday but was generally happy with his play.

“I had a chance to go 8-under, which is disappointing,” he said. “But at the same time, I know that three more 6-unders and I’ll be all right.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.