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All of which is a million miles from the thoughts of another UK player who at the same time was sitting in the same interview room.

The American-based Scot, , was more concerned with making sure that a turnaround in fortune over the past fortnight is sustained on this potentially brutal Stadium Course.

"It's got that fifth major feel about it and when I found out last year that I'd qualified to play it was one of those that you put a circle around. It's one of those highlighted on the calendar," Laird told me.

"I was excited to get here, and now I'm here it is living up to what I thought it would be."

Laird scrambled into the all-important top 125 on the PGA Tour in the final week of last season. He'd had two top-four finishes and tied seventh at the Barclays to help make the $852,752 he needed to retain his playing privileges.

"I didn't make all my goals last year but any time you keep your card on the PGA Tour as a rookie it's obviously a good year. That was perhaps the biggest surprise, I didn't realise it would quite be that hard to finish top 125 on the money list.

"It was a good year in 2008, hopefully I can have a better one this year," the Arizona-based Glaswegian added.

The form line hasn't been overly promising. Laird had seven weekends in a row free and unpaid, failing to break seventy in 14 consecutive rounds.

But a change of coach just over a fortnight ago seems to be paying dividends. In New Orleans he opened with a 68 and posted a six under par total to finish in a share of 24th place.

A week later at , the 26-year-old showed commendable nerve to finish his second round with two birdies and guarantee playing at the weekend.

"I'm feeling a lot better than I did two weeks ago," Laird admits. "My game is on the up and I'm feeling pretty confident about this week. I hit the ball really nicely at Quail Hollow and didn't putt great. Hopefully I can get the putter working a bit better here.

"I had been struggling all season and had made one cut all year and decided to go for a new coach, Mark McCann, in New Orleans just for a different look. I saw him on the Tuesday and had by far my best week all year.

"It's amazing how fast confidence can disappear but it can come back just as quickly."

Laird's ambition is to gain the top 50 world status that would enable him to play on both sides of the Atlantic. For now though, his clubs have stayed firmly in the American bag to give him his best chance of retaining his PGA Tour card.

So at this the most lucrative stop on Tour there is great incentive to make another cut and bank another decent cheque.

Laird plans to try to qualify for the Open at Turnberry and were he to succeed he would seek a sponsors invite to play his "home" tournament, the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

"America is where I live, but Scotland will always be my home," the Colorado State graduate says.

He is in a tough school this week at the Players' as it trumpets the depth of its field and the difficulty of the course.

Debate rages on the merits of the island green par three seventeenth - you can see it on the 606 pages on this site. For what it's worth I'm a fan of the drama it creates and I loved this quote from Padraig Harrington that summed it up perfectly.

"Seventeen is perfect. It's not a difficult birdie, but it's a very difficult par," said the Irishman, who despite missing the cut last week, might just be worth watching over the next four days.