Martin Laird wins Homecoming Trip to Open at St Andrews


NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A
25 May 2010, Plano, Texas. Scotland’s highest-ranked player, Martin Laird, has successfully qualified for the 150th Anniversary Open Championship through International Final Qualifying – America. The 27-year-old, who made his Open Championship debut on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry last year, posted an eight-under-par, 36-hole total of 132 to take one of eight places available yesterday at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas.
The Glaswegian followed an opening round of 69, one under par, with a seven-under-par 63, the joint-best round of the day, around Gleneagles’ 6856-yard Queens Course to ensure his place on the Old Course.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” said Laird, whose second round began with an outward 29, six under par. “My parents live 15 miles away from St Andrews so I will stay there all week. St Andrews: that’s the place I always wanted to play as a kid.”
Leading the qualifiers was Tim Petrovic, who shot rounds of 64 and 65 for an 11-under-par 129. He will now look forward to making his fourth Open appearance, having first played at Muirfield in 2002, again at St Andrews in 2005 and, most recently, in 2008 at Royal Birkdale.
Bo Van Pelt signed for back-to-back, five-under-par 65s to finish one stroke behind Petrovic on 10 under. The 35-year-old from Indiana will return to The Open for the first time since competing at Royal Liverpool in 2006, his other two appearances coming at Royal Troon in 2004 and at St Andrews in 2005.
“I drove it pretty well, which kind of set up everything and I just took advantage of those short holes,” said Van Pelt. “I took advantage of the holes you could get at, then the tough holes just made pars on.
“I’ve played in three before. It has been a couple of years. It’s probably the biggest tournament in the world, so those are the ones you want to play in. Every guy that came here today obviously wanted to get in, so it’s exciting to get there.”
D A Points, who led the field after a round-one 63, was a further stroke behind Petrovic on a nine-under-par total of 131, comfortably qualifying for his first Open Championship.
“Qualifying means a lot,” said Points. “I’ve never played in an Open and I’ve never played at St Andrews.
“Today was the best golf I’ve probably played in 2010. I drove it pretty well, I hit some decent iron shots, putted really well and managed my game well. Even when I missed the green, I chipped it real close. So it was just a good day.”
The remaining four players that clinched one of the eight Open places available were Tom Pernice Jr, Glen Day, George McNeill and Australia’s Cameron Percy.
Percy defeated Bubba Watson and Charley Hoffman on the third play-off hole with a birdie-three. All three were battling for the one remaining berth on offer.
Davis Love III’s streak of 23 consecutive starts at The Open dating back to 1987 is in danger as he missed out at qualifying. There are, however, three routes available through which Love could still qualify.
Full hole-by-hole scores can be found on opengolf.com.
Results at Gleneagles Country Club, Plano, Texas:
Tim Petrovic USA 64 65 129 Qualified
Bo Van Pelt USA 65 65 130 Qualified
DA Points USA 63 68 131 Qualified
Martin Laird Scotland 69 63 132 Qualified
Tom Pernice Jr USA 64 69 133 Qualified
Glen Day USA 67 67 134 Qualified
George McNeill USA 68 66 134 Qualified
Charley Hoffman USA 66 69 135
Cameron Percy Australia 68 67 135 Qualified
Bubba Watson USA 70 65 135
Manuel Villegas Colombia 69 67 136
Roland Thatcher USA 66 70 136
Brandt Snedeker USA 71 65 136
Jeff Gove USA 69 67 136
Bryce Molder USA 69 68 137
Rory Sabbatini South Africa 70 67 137
Harrison Frazar USA 70 67 137
Woody Austin USA 66 71 137
Nathan Smith USA 68 69 137
Nathan Green Australia 69 68 137
Johnson Wagner USA 70 67 137
Ricky Barnes USA 68 69 137
Kevin Stadler USA 70 67 137
Jonathan Byrd USA 68 69 137
Jeff Overton USA 69 69 138
John Rollins USA 71 67 138
Omar Uresti USA 69 69 138
Cameron Tringale USA 68 70 138
Brendon De Jonge Zimbabwe 71 67 138
Ryan Moore USA 68 71 139
Chad Campbell USA 73 66 139
Rich Barcelo USA 71 68 139
Chad Collins USA 70 69 139
Troy Matteson USA 68 71 139
Cameron Beckman USA 67 72 139
Davis Love III USA 71 69 140
Derek Lamely USA 67 73 140
Andres Romero Argentina 71 69 140
Aaron Baddeley Australia 66 74 140
Fredrik Jacobson Sweden 70 70 140
Boo Weekley USA 67 73 140
DJ Trahan USA 68 73 141
James Driscoll USA 75 66 141
Tim Wilkinson New Zealand 73 68 141
Stephen Ames Canada 71 70 141
Stuart Appleby Australia 70 71 141
Brian Davis England 73 68 141
Paul Goydos USA 72 69 141
JJ Killeen USA 71 70 141
Andy Matthews USA 68 74 142
Bob Estes USA 71 72 143
Rickie Fowler USA 71 72 143
David Schultz USA 72 71 143
Graham Delaet Canada 71 72 143
Josh Teater USA 70 73 143
Ryan Palmer USA 71 72 143
Brad Adamonis USA 71 73 144
Lucas Lee Brazil 71 75 146
Troy Merritt USA 72 74 146
Leif Olson USA 75 73 148
Mathias Gronberg Sweden 67 NR NR
Arjun Atwal India 68 NR NR
John Merrick USA 71 NR NR
Steven Wheatcroft USA 71 NR NR
Daniel Chopra Sweden 72 NR NR
Scott Hend Australia NR NR NR
Alex Cejka Germany 71 Scr Scr
Jeev Milkha Singh India 72 Scr Scr
Robert Garrigus USA 72 Scr Scr
Scott Piercy USA 72 Scr Scr
Kevin Streelman USA 72 Scr Scr
Will MacKenzie USA 73 Scr Scr
Chris Tidland USA 73 Scr Scr
Tim Herron USA 73 Scr Scr
Kevin Chappell USA 74 Scr Scr
Webb Simpson USA 75 Scr Scr
Nicholas Thompson USA 76 Scr Scr
Rod Pampling Australia 75 Disq Disq