Martin Laird's US Tour place on

the line as he starts with a 68

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE

By SEAN MARTIN

Assistant Editor

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Flodida – Martin Laird’s long drives and laid-back attitude make him an ideal pro-am partner. Except this week.

Laird’s US PGA Tour card is his first priority at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic. The Scotsman, pictured above, started the week at No. 126 on the money list, about $37,000 behind Jeff Overton.

“I’m probably not being quite as chatty this week as I would be maybe at the start of the season,” Laird said. “I’m talking, but I’m kind of trying to focus more on what I need to do. It’s too big a week to be too concerned about reading putts for other people and stuff.”

Laird shot a four-under 68 in Thursday's first round at Walt Disney World Resort’s Palm Course, traditionally the easier of the two lay-outs used in this event, which features a pro-am during the first 36 holes.

Birdies on two of Laird’s final three holes salvaged an “alright” start for the rookie, who is tied for 28th position.

“Today was just a normal Thursday,” the 25-year-old said. “I wasn’t out there thinking, ‘I’m 126th on the money list. I need to play well.’ I’m not too bothered because I’m on the outside looking in. It’s not like I’m 125th on the money list and feel like I have a lot to lose. I can only go up.”

His prospects will be helped by three consecutive rounds at the 7,516-yard Magnolia Course, which plays about 600 yards longer than the Palm. Laird said his length – he ranks 31st on Tour in driving distance (296.4 yards per drive) – makes him feel comfortable on the tougher lay-out. Players alternate between the Magnolia and Palm for the first two rounds, then play the weekend on the Magnolia.

Laird figures he needs at least a top-15 finish to avoid a trip to Q-School. But the almighty dollar won’t impact his on-course decisions until Sunday, if at all.

The same can’t be said for his off-the-course activities. Laird, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, has lived in the United States since coming to Colorado State University as a 17-year-old freshman.

This is his first time at Walt Disney World, but he has limited his time at the theme parks to a quiet dinner at Epcot. This week he’s staying with fellow Tour players Kevin Stadler (who’s No. 147 on the money list), Tim Wilkinson and Ryan Armour. Wilkinson and Armour have already secured their cards.

“I’m trying to focus on the task at hand,” Laird said, “instead of going over there and going on rides and stuff.”

Laird’s ability to stay calm with money on the line is one reason he made a smooth transition to professional golf, said Colorado State head coach Jamie Bermel.

Laird was a two-time All-American (and two-time All-American Scholar) before graduating from Colorado State in 2004 with a marketing degree. He advanced to Q-School finals later that year to earn Nationwide Tour status.

After three years on the secondary circuit, he finished 13th on the money list in 2007 to earn his Tour card.

“The big hurdle for a lot of these kids, is they have a difficult time processing the amount of money they’re playing for,” said Bermel, who also coached Zach Johnson at Drake. “They get all caught up in that, and I think Martin does a good job of playing and just adding it up at the end.”

Laird, however, started to doubt his ability when he earned just $66,000 in his first 14 events this year. He’s made 13 of 14 cuts since.He finished joint fourth in consecutive starts to reach the FedEx Cup playoffs, then finished tied seventh at The Barclays.

Surprisingly, he’s still fighting for his card despite advancing to the BMW Championship, the third of the four FedEx Cup play-off events.

Laird has had chances to put away his Tour card. He finished 64-63 at the Wyndham Championship to finish T-4 and earn his biggest check of the year, but he also called a two-stroke penalty on himself in the second round for failing to replace his ball marker.

Laird was under par entering the weekend at the limited-field BMW Championship, but shot a third-round 76 to erase his chances of cashing a big check.

“There’s no question he thinks (about the money list),” Bermel said. “Like all those guys on the bubble, he’s fighting. But he has a pretty good appreciation of where he was in July and where he is now. He just keeps plugging away and chipping away at it.”

Laird isn’t too worried about losing his card. He said he has fond memories playing Q-School at PGA West in 2004 and 2006. Not that he thinks he’ll be spending the first week in December in the California desert.

“I’m pretty confident I’m going to get the job done," said Laird.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
Magnolia GC
64 Scott Verplank, Kevin Streelman
65 Robert Gamez, Rich Beem
66 Zach Johnson, Ken Duke
67 Cody Freeman, Steve Flesch, Mathias Gronberg (Swe)
68 Chris DiMarco, Charles Howell III, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), John Rollins, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Cameron Beckman, Bo Van Pelt, Carl Pettersson (Swe), Stephen Ames (Can), Tommy Gainey
69 Brett Rumford (Aus), Lee Janzen, Carlos Franco (Par), Tim Clark (Rsa)
70 Dudley Hart, Michael Bradley, Chris Stroud, Matthew Jones (Aus), Michael Allen, Travis Perkins (Sco), Brett Quigley, Scott Sterling
71 David Lutterus (Rsa), Scott McCarron, Mark Hensby (Aus), Brenden Pappas (Rsa), Steve Elkington (Aus), J.B. Holmes, George McNeill, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Jim McGovern, Ryan Armour, Shane Bertsch
72 Brad Faxon, Brian Davis (Eng), Kyle Thompson, Briny Baird, Nick Flanagan (Aus), Jon Mills (Can), Jason Day (Aus)
73 Paul Claxton, Kent Jones, Jeff Maggert, Brian Gay, John Huston, Greg Kraft, Peter Lonard (Aus), Bob Tway
74 Brad Adamonis, Ben Crane, Chad Collins, Steve Lowery, Frank Lickliter II
75 Clint Avret, Richard Johnson (Wal)
PALM GOLF CLUB

Par 72

63 Troy Matteson
64 Jimmy Walker
65 Steve Marino, Kirk Triplett, Robert Garrigus
66 Robert Allenby (Aus), Tag Ridings, Davis Love III, Stewart Cink, Tom Pernice Jnr, Jason Gore
67 J J Henry, Omar Uresti, Jeff Overton, Tim Petrovic, Todd Demsey, Harrison Frazar, Kevin Stadler
68 Patrick Sheehan, Vaughn Taylor, Woody Austin, Tommy Armour III, Will MacKenzie, Y. E Yang (Kor), Joe Durant, Martin Laird (Sco), Boo Weekley, Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Craig Kanada, John Riegger
69 Bob Sowards, Tom Scherrer, Jin Park (Kor), Nick Watney, J.P. Hayes, Ted Purdy, Ronald Whittaker
70 Richard S Johnson (Swe), Bob Estes, Erik Compton, Brad Elder, Jesper Parnevik (Swe), Brian Bateman
71 Jerry Kelly, Charles Warren, Bubba Watson, Heath Slocum, Justin Bolli, Ryan Palmer, Marc Turnesa, Bob Heintz, Nicholas Thompson
72 Jason Allred, Bill Haas, Eric Axley, Kenneth Ferrie (Eng), Cliff Kresge, James Driscoll, Jason Bohn
73 Ryan Moore
74 Dustin Johnson
75 Fred Couples
76 Jay Williamson, Alex Cejka (Ger).