Soon-to-be new father Martin Laird has again joined the European Tour with a view of qualifying automatically for next year’s European Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles.
Laird’s American-born wife, Megan is expecting to give birth two weeks before Laird defends his Valero Texas Open title in San Antonio.
Martin Laird and his wife, Megan expecting their first child in March.
However Laird’s immediate focus is his last event this year and joining fellow Scot Stephen Gallacher in this week’s World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, Australia.
It’s Laird’s first visit to former Olympics Games host city though the Scot first travelled to Australia in 2007 to compete in a second PGA Tour secondary Tour event in Adelaide and two years on spent a few days sightseeing in Sydney.
“I’ve heard so much about Royal Melbourne but it is a lot better than I expected in terms that it is a fantastic second shot course and then it’s all around the greens and in the putting,” he said.
“It’s pretty basic in that I might only hit driver two or three times, so there’s a lot of 2,3 and 4-irons and all about getting in position off the tee.
“So it’s a very old style golf course where you have to think about your shots and you can see very much the similarities in what Alister MacKenzie did here and at Augusta, as sometimes the only way to get it close to a flag is to play away from the flags.”
Laird only recently re-joined the European Tour with the goal of making his Ryder Cup Team debut later next year at Gleneagles.
“I’ve only just re-joined the Tour last week so the World Rankings points I gain this week will go towards hopefully qualifying,” said Laird.
“I want to play in any Ryder Cup team but Gleneagles is a special incentive but the way my golf game has been the last few months I need to concentrate more on that than trying to make the team.
“I know if I can have a hot start to the New Year like I did at the start of this year then maybe qualifying for the European Team will be a topic for discussion.
“But then we are expecting our first child in March so we are both very excited about that and with the baby due around the Tampa Bay Championship. So it all goes well I should be back for my defence of the Valero Texas Open.”
Laird then has the excitement the first of January competing in the 30-player Tournament of Champion in Hawaii and his reward for winning in San Antonio.
However Laird and Gallacher will find themselves competing 10 groups apart on the first two days in Melbourne, and then there could be the bizarre scenario on the final day of the two Scots fighting each other for victory in the now 72-hole stroke-play event.
“The new format is a little strange,” said World No. 2 Adam Scott who will team with fellow Australian Adam Scott.
“I kind of hoping I would be spending the four days playing alongside Jason Day as I thought that would be good for both of us but then this event is trying to find a new identity, I guess.
“So we are running with this new format this year ahead of taking it to the Olympics in 2016, so we will see how it pans out.”
MEANTIME –
Laird also has a new full-time caddy in New Zealand-born Michael ‘Sponge’ Waite was recently caddied for Lee Westwood but enjoyed a career high in caddying for fellow Kiwi Michael Campbell when he captured the 2005 US Open and later that year the World Match-Play Championship.
