Andrew Both

MARTIN LAIRD said it would be "obscene" to even think about making the European Ryder Cup team after moving to the top of the Wyndham Championship leaderboard on seven under par.

Boosted by an eagle at the par-4 13th, where he holed out from the rough from 116 yards, the 25-year-old from Glasgow carded a 63 at Sedgefield to finish in a tie for the lead with Bob Heintz, one stroke ahead of Tim Clark, Carl Pettersson, Scott Sterling and Garrett Willis.

Laird, a PGA Tour rookie who came to the US eight years ago on a golf scholarship at Colorado State, was thinking about the Ryder Cup at the start of the year, but his form until recently was prohibitively poor.

"It's definitely not on my mind, but if I won this week and next, who knows," said Laird. "I had to play early and get in the limelight.

"I lost all confidence for about two months and that was killing me but I've been playing good the last month."

Laird finished tied fourth in his most recent start at the Reno-Tahoe Open, after coming equal 22nd at the previous week's Canadian Open, which was won by his friend Chez Reavie.

Here, he made a confidence-boosting start by sinking an eight-foot putt to save par at the first hole.

"I holed a nice putt right in the middle," he said. "I walked off the green thinking the stroke feels good already."

If Laird has not quite set the tour on fire this year, Heintz has fared only marginally better, but he carded eight birdies and one bogey.

"It wasn't perfect golf," said the 38-year-old native of Syosset, on New York's Long Island. "It was well managed and if you had to pinpoint something, it was distance control. When I was uncomfortable with a certain hole location, I just hit the ball in the middle of the green to give myself an easy two-putt."

Clark, meanwhile, bogeyed the tough par-4 18th to fall out of the lead, but had few complaints.

"I'm right in it, very happy with six under," said the South African, who played his college golf at North Carolina State in nearby Raleigh.

World No.5 Vijay Singh, the highest-ranked player in a relatively sparse field, carded 69 on a day when the field averaged less than 69 strokes.

The tournament, previously known as the Greater Greensboro Open, was first held in 1938. It has returned to Sedgefield this year for the first time since 1976.