Scotland’s Martin Laird will contest eight of the next nine PGA Tour events, including this week’s Tampa Bay Championship, vowing to improve his sliding World Ranking.
Laird has played just five events this year finishing well down in his first two starts but sitting out the weekend rounds in Phoenix, San Diego and last fortnight in Palm Beach Gardens.
In those last three events Laird failed to break 70 while he’s now dropped two places out of the world’s top-100 and will tee-up alongside American Tommy Gainey and Argentina’s pint-size Anders Romero.
Martin Laird vows to arrest his sliding World Ranking. (Photo – Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie)
The Charlotte based Laird had been ranked a lowly 268th at the end of 2008 but was 104th at the close of 2009, 50th at the end of 2010 and then a high of 21st in the world in capturing the 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Victory at Bay Hill opened the door for Laird to compete in all four Majors and WGC events.
However for the time being, Laird has forfeited those appearances having ended 2012 sliding outside the top-50 to being ranked 71st.
“As soon as I dropped out of the top-50 I stopped looking at my ranking,” he said.
“I was in the top-30 for a couple of years, reaching 21st twice, and it just shows how fickle this game can be because for eight months I’ve struggled and you just plummet down the ranking.
“I wouldn’t know where I am ranked now only that I am very determined to get back into the top-50, and also hopefully get myself to Augusta next month.”
Laird set about correcting the slide with a sizzling showing in yesterday’s (WED) Tampa Bay Pro-Am on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Scot took the bite out of the Snake Pit, the closing three holes – par four, 475-yard 16th, par three, 215-yard par three and par four, 445-yard 18th – leading his team to a top-10 finish.
“I’ve never been excited at the start of a year playing the West Coast events but these event here in Florida, including next week where I won two years, has me really excited,” he said.
Laird will ply the first two rounds of the $990,000 event in the company of American Tommy Gainey and Argentinean Anders Romeo.
