Martin Laird

Lists his dad and Greg Norman as his heroes. Got his start in golf when his father introduced him to the game. Actually learned to play the game left-handed, before switching sides. Coached at Colorado State by Jamie Bermel, who was two-time major champion Zach Johnson's coach at Drake University. Has played in the United States for most of his career, first on the Nationwide Tour and mini-tours and then on the PGA Tour starting in 2008; first event as a pro in his native Scotland was the 2009 Scottish Open where he shot a 65 in the first round and finished 10th. Has the flag of Scotland on his golf belt, golf bag, and the tees he uses.
Winner of the 2006 San Juan Open. Winner of the 2004 Denver Open.
2005 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 19; Rounds Played - 55; in money - 8; top -10 Finishes - 0; Scoring Average - 72.00 (Rank 119th); money $18,488 (Rank 156th); Best finish, T18th Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open.
Didn't play on either PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour in 2006, and played on the Gateway Tour winning the San Juan Open his second win on that tour.
2007 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 27; Rounds Played - 84; in money - 19; top -10 Finishes - 5; Scoring Average - 70.54 (Rank 31st); money $252,679 Rank (13th); Winner Athens Regional Foundation Classic.
2010 Notes: Had a breakout year in his third Tour season despite not winning, but it's tough when you lose a playoff to a person that makes a hole-in-one, as Jonathan Byrd did to beat him at the Justin Timberlake, an event Laird won in 2009. Finished 11th on FedExCup list.
2011 Notes: Had his second win in three seasons and career-best numbers in earnings (No. 23), top 10s (six), and top 25s (11). His Arnold Palmer Invitational victory was the 300th win on the PGA Tour by a former Korn Ferry Tour player.
2012 Notes: Had a runner-up finish in his first start at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions and at the Players Championship. Finished year 64th in the FedEx Cup standings and 36th in the money list.
2013 Notes: Shot a final-round 63 at the Valero Texas Open, ending his round with three birdies to make up a five-shot deficit and win by two shots over Rory McIlroy. Finished T5th at the Players Championship. Concluded the year 74th in the FedEx Cup, marking just the second time since the 2008 season he has failed to advance to the BMW Championship.
2014 Notes: In a last bid to finish inside the top 125 in FedEx Cup standings and make the playoffs for the sixth time, claimed a T-14th at the Wyndham Championship to finish at 127th that ended his PGA TOUR season. Only two top-15 finishes among 20 starts came in his last two events of the season. At the Barracuda Championship in Reno, was one of only two players in the field to collect double-digit points in three of the four rounds in the Modified Stableford scoring event. Geoff Ogilvy, the event's winner, was the other. The T-6th finish was his first top-10 since a T-5th at the 2013 Players Championship.
2015 Notes: Opened the season at the Frys.com Open with matching rounds of 6-under 67 to carry a one-shot lead into the weekend. Went on to finish T-3rd (three shots behind champion Sang-Moon Bae) following a final-round, 1-under 71. At the Waste Management Phoenix Open, opened with back-to-back, 5-under 66s to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend. A third-round 68 extended his lead after 54 holes to three shots at 13-under 200. A Sunday struggle resulted in a 1-over 72 and an eventual T-5th with amateur Jon Rahm, three shots behind winner Brooks Koepka. Finished T-7th at the Farmers Insurance Open, recording his first back-to-back top 10s since stringing together three in a row in 2011. In 24 starts made 15 cuts and had three top-ten finishes. Was 99th in the FedEx Cup race and 90th in the money standings.
2016 Notes: Played in 24 events and made 17 cuts. He had three top-ten finishes, his best was T-2nd at the RBC Canadian Open one shot back of winner Jhonattan Vegas. Was 77th in the FedExCup race and 86th in the money standings.
2017 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events making 18 cuts with five top-ten finishes. Was 56th in the FedExCup standings. Started his year with a top-ten finish, T-8th at the Safeway Open. Was T-9th at the CareerBuilder Challenge, T-7th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and T-8th at the Genesis Open. Finished T-3rd at the Quicken Loans National, two shots back of the playoff, but the good finish got him a spot in the British Open, where he missed the cut. Also missed the cut at the PGA Championship. Finished his year T-44th at the BMW Championship.
2018 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events making 14 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 115th in the FedExCup standings. Best individual finish, T-9th at the Waste Management Phoneix Open and Genesis Open. Was T-7th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, teamed with Russell Knox. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-73rd at the Northern Trust.
2019 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour events making 18 cuts with four top-ten finishes. Was 121st in the FedExCup standings. Was T-7th at the Sanderson Farms Championship, then T-9th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans teamed with Nick Taylor. Shot a final-round 63 to finish T-6th at the Barbasol Championship, five shots back of winner Jim Herman. Was T-7th at the Barracuda Championship. In the FedExCup playoffs was 83rd at the Northern Trust.
2020 Notes: Played in 12 PGA Tour events making seven cuts with one top-ten finish. Was 182nd in the FedExCup standings. Was T-6th at the Puerto Rico Open. During the COVID-19 break moved to Denver, Colorado but a week before rejoining the tour at the Charles Schwab Championship he collapsed at his home in excruciating pain in his left knee. The knee started bothering him on the West Coast swing but this time it was different. He went to the emergency room in a Denver hospital and found out he tore the meniscus in the knee and needed surgery, ending his 2020 season.
2021 Notes: The surgery was successful and he started playing at Cherry Hills outside of Denver. He made his first start in September at the Korn Ferry Lincoln Land Championship, finishing 65th. The next week he made it back to the PGA Tour at the Safeway Open, missing the cut. After playing at the Corales Puntacana and Sanderson Farms went to the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and he won his fourth career title just four months after having knee surgery. Laird bogeyed his final hole to drop into a three-way playoff with Matthew Wolff and Austin Cook. Laird made a 20-foot birdie on the second extra hole to win the Vegas event for a second time. Since then his best finish was T-17th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.