Greensboro, North Carolina …. Scotland’s Martin Laird shrugged off a nagging early-week knuckle injury to be well up the board heading to the weekend rounds of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Laird was doubtful of taking his place in the $US 5.6m (£4.3m) event right up to tee-off on Thursday but a prescribed course of anti-inflammatories has seen the Scot post rounds of 67 and 69 for a four-under par tally.
It had Laird lying inside the top-20 as the afternoon half of the field took to the Sedgefield Country Club course.
John Adams from Appomattox in Virginia and where on April 9, 1865, the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia took place in the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House that signalled the end of the American Civil War.
Laird capped his round near the outset sending a 174-yard 7-iron second shot at his second hole to just two feet for the first of three birdies in his round.
“I drove the ball a little better than yesterday but then while this course is not the longest at a par 70, it is still very tricky and even with wedges and 9-irons in your hands it’s hard to get the ball close on some holes as the pins are cut into the slopes,” he said.
“But in saying that, I like the golf course as it’s an old-fashioned Donald Ross design.
“Also my knuckle is not an issue now and that’s good as the anti-inflammatories the doctor gave me on Wednesday have kicked-in, so it’s fine.
“Even on Thursday morning I was doubtful of teeing-up as I had my mind set that I was not going to play and not risk the knuckle.
“It had been bugging me for some time and to stand here at four under through two rounds in very nice given how I was feeling on Thursday morning.
“All I need to do now is tidy it up for the weekend and hopefully post a couple of good rounds and see what happens.”
Laird, after his superb second place in last month’s Canadian Open, is lying 88th on the FedEx Cup standings and while he’s into next week’s Barclays Championship and the opening Play-Off event, his big goal to be in the field for the season-ending Tour Championship.
It would mean breaking into the top-30 on the FedEx Cup points list and something he’s done once before, in 2010 in finishing a PGA Tour career high of 11th on the money list.
“That’s my big goal to making it to the Tour Championship but then the way I have been playing of late there’s every chance of that happening,” he said,
“My season was good early on the West Coast but then being a father now of two children affected the mid part of my season as that was a real life-changer.
“But the baby’s now four months old and things have settled down a bit at home and it’s showed in my results such as that great second in the Canadian Open.
“Now I can get back to playing the golf I know I am capable of and having had some time off with the second baby I kind of feel fresh for what lays ahead.”
Laird’s effort left him trailing eight shots behind 21-year old Korean So Win Kim who smashed the Sedgefield County Club course record with a 10-under par 60.
Kim needed to birdie the closing two holes to shoot a 59 and while he did birdie 17, he left his approach shot well left at the last for a par.
“I was not thinking of a 59 but then I was still trying to birdie the last,” he said.
“It’s just that my tee shot was too aggressive and I missed the fairway left that found a very, very tough lie.”
