Intro:

Paul Lawrie and Dustin Johnson spoke on Thursday (16th July) following their opening rounds of the Open Championship in St. Andrews.

Johnson was the early club house leader after a seven-under-par opening round of 65.

Lawrie - the 1999 Open winner in Carnoustie - was one of a clutch of players one shot off the lead.

Script:

Paul Lawrie, six-under-par:

"Well, obviously it was quite calm, calmish this morning, so it's important to take advantage of those conditions if you can, and knocked a few putts in and played very well out there, apart from 17 which was probably almost a par-five anyway. So no, very pleased. Putted very well. Hit the ball very solid, and it was what it was."

"When you're a Scot and you get it going out there, then obviously you hear your name a little bit more than the guys you're playing with, for instance. But always great to play in front of -- I've been lucky enough to have a couple decent wins playing in front of them, so I kind of tend to enjoy it. I tend to play a little better in front of them. I don't feel more pressure. I feel the opposite. I kind of feel a bit more relaxed and I kind of play some nice golf, to be fair."

Dustin Johnson:

"Well, I just got off to a good start, played well on the front nine, and then coming on the way back in, it played pretty difficult. I thought the only time I was really out of position was on 16 and 17. I made probably a 10-footer on 16 for par, and then a 15-footer on 17 for par. But other than that I had good looks at birdie all day."