First round leaderboard:• -7: M Laird (Sco), I Poulter (Eng)•-6 : B Adams (US)• -5: K Na (US), B Crane (US)• -4: M Thompson (US), H Frazar (US)Selected others •-3: P Harrington (Ire)• -1: L Westwood (Eng), P Mickelson (US)• Even: R McIlroy (N Ire), L Donald (Eng)• +2: T Woods (US)SAWGRASS – Ian Poulter and Martin Laird shared the first-round lead at seven under in the Players Championship in Florida.England’s Poulter was on top for much of the day with his career-low Sawgrass round of 65 before US-based Scotsman Laird joined him late on. Only one British Golfer has ever won The Players Championship, Sandy Lyle in 1987.But after the opening round of the 2012 tournament here in Florida, an Englishman and a Scotsman sit in a share of the lead. Both Ian Poulter and Martin Laird were only two shots off the course record.Poulter put together a run of nine holes in a row with just one putt on each green. Laird was the only player who managed to go through his first round without dropping a single shot American Blake Adams was one shot back ahead of a large group on four under, including England’s Brian Davis.Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald ended level par with Lee Westwood one under and Tiger Woods two over.Poulter, runner-up to Swede Henrik Stenson three years ago, fired eight birdies in all, including four in a row from the ninth and six in his last 10 holes.“I played lovely,” said the 36-year-old. “That’s probably in the top 10 of the rounds of golf I have ever played.“I do like tough golf courses. I generally play them well; whether it focuses my mind a bit more, I don’t know. It is a proper test of golf. I’m excited to see what happens over the weekend.”Poulter admits he is playing with a “huge weight off his mind” after finally seeing completion of the palatial new house he has been building on the shores of Lake Nona in Florida.
