Martin Laird and fellow Scot Stephen Gallacher will be reunited for a first time in two years when the pair team up for the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne in Australia. 

Good friend and Scotsman colleague reports Laird’s participation in Melbourne has been confirmed by his manager, Blake Smith, as the three-times PGA Tour winner prepares to start his Fall schedule in this week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.

Valero Texas Open winner Martin Laird heading to Royal Melbourne to partner Stephen Gallacher in the World Cup of Golf. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

“He will be there,”said Smith and revealing the 30-year-old North Carolina-based Scot, who has been recharging his batteries since making an early exit from this year’s FedEx Cup Play-offs, is also travelling to Malaysia for next week’s PGA Tour CMIB Classic.

Laird and Gallacher tied for fourth behind the United States at Mission Hills, finishing just three shots adrift of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland in a hotly-contested event. They will face even stiffer competition in their bid to emulate 2007 winners Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren as this year’s field will include Masters champion Adam Scott as well as three other former major winners in Angel Cabrera, Graeme McDowell and Vijay Singh.

The make-up of the 60-man field was based on the world rankings and, at the cut-off last month, Laird had just been joined by Gallacher as the top two Scots after the latter had jumped above Paul Lawrie.

It means a hectic end to the season for Gallacher as he is eligible for all four events in the European Tour’s new “Final Series” then will head straight from Dubai to Australia, where a total of $8m will be up for grabs.