Martin Laird is hoping to feed off the lingering feelgood factor of The Players' Championship and finally make his major mark.

The Stateside Glasgow star tees up in the US Open in San Francisco tomorrow eager to prove that he can handle the big occasion.

Laird will go for gold at the Olympic Club in confident mood having posted a second-place finish in last month's Players' Championship at Sawgrass, the unofficial 'fifth major.'

Now the 29-year-old is looking to carry that form into the real thing this week and shine on the main stage.

Laird has played in 10 majors so far in his career but has missed the cut in seven of them and has departed early from all three of his previous US Open campaigns.

The two-time PGA Tour champ, said: "The Players' Championship was a good finish in terms of proving to myself that I can go out in the final round of a huge tournament and play that way.

"The best thing I took out of it is I wasn't nervous at all in the final round. It was weird. It was the calmest I've felt.

"I was way more nervous at Bay Hill and at Vegas where I won than I was at The Players. I felt like I belonged out there. It didn't feel like it was too big a situation for me. That's when you feel like, okay, maybe my game is getting to the level where I can play in these big events and not feel overwhelmed and intimidated by them. I definitely feel like that's the case."

Laird will face a daunting challenge at the Olympic Club over a course that will be playing 7170 yards and has the monstrous 670-yard par-five 16th, the longest in US Open history.

Laird is one of the bigger hitters on the PGA circuit but swing king Butch Harmon, former coach to Tiger Woods, reckons that length won't be the be-all and end-all on a layout of tight fairways and penal rough.

Harmon said: "Martin is solid and very good in all categories, I like his game. I don't think his length will be much of an advantage though because they are not going to hit their driver very often."

Laird will be joined in a star-studded field this week by fellow Glasgow man Marc Warren, who came through a qualifying contest at Walton Heath a fortnight ago.

The two-time Euro Tour champ will be making his major debut and, unsurprisingly, has been quoted as a 300-1 shot by the bookies.

Harmon added: "If he is making his first appearance at a US Open he couldn't have picked a harder course to make it on. I think 300/1 may be conservative."