The Scotland pair of Robert MacIntyre and Martin Laird will carry the burden of the Home of Golf nation over these two weeks in Texas of looking to secure a place into next month’s Masters.
At this stage, and with former champ Sandy Lyle having retired from Masters competition, there is no Scottish-born exempt into the 88th hosting of the year’s maiden major starting April 11th at Augusta National.
To ensure this does onto happen for a first time since 1984, MacIntyre or Laird must win either this week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open or next week’s Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
It also means that the current World No. 74 ranked MacIntyre were to finish runner-up in America’s fourth largest city, he would still fall short in earning ranking points to one of this week’s last ‘regular’ top-50 ranking invitations to Augusta.
It is much the same for the four-time Tour winning Laird presently ranked the World No. 154. It’s been 11-years since the Denver-based Scot won the very last Masters qualifying event in the week prior to the 2013 Masters when he denied then World No. 2 ranked Rory McIlroy victory at the Valero Texas Open.
Robert MacIntyre and fellow Scot Martin Laird looking to continue a 40-year run of at least one Scot teeing-up in the Masters
Laird arrived in the famed Alamo city then ranked World No. 117 and the win, a third of his career, securing the very last place into The Masters, though had landed so late into Augusta that Sunday night, he bunked-down in the house being rented by Sandy Lyle before sorting out his own ‘digs’.
Laird said: “It would be a nice bonus to be adding Augusta to my schedule as it’s been a couple of years now since I last qualified for the Masters.
“Obviously, the way I’m playing of late has been pretty steady so I don’t see why I can’t be right there in contention these two weeks here in Texas.
“Of course, it’s been a few years since my first Masters. I played well there the first time around (T-20th 2011). I didn’t play well the next two but then had decent finish (T38th – 2021) a couple of years back”
“So, I’m hoping to get back. I absolutely love the golf course. It’s definitely a special place”.
Laird is no stranger to this week’s host Memorial Park course having missed the cut when the event was last staged on the course in November, 2020 following the Covid-related return of the Tour.
If both MacIntyre and Laird are unsuccessful, and with former champ Sandy Lyle now retired from competing, it will be a first Masters since 1984, and 50-years that there will not be a Scot teeing-up at Augusta National.
Joining MacIntyre and Laird in Houston is Texas-based Scot Callum McNeill, currently ranked a lowly World No. 4,223rd in the world and with he and MacIntyre making their debut in the £stg 7.2m event.
MEANTIME ….
Former champ Stephen Gallacher heads a field of five Scots contesting this week’s Hero Indian Open that also include Ewen Ferguson, Grant Forrest, Calum Hill and Scott Jamieson competing on the demanding DLF course in New Delhi.
Gallacher won the 2019 event with son, Jack, on the bag.
