Scratching the Seven-Year Itch: After Lengthy Hiatus, Martin Laird Win in Vegas

 

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Congratulations to Martin Laird , our 38th Shriners Hospital for Children Open champion! #SHCO20 🏌️

A post shared by Shriners Open (@shrinersopen) on Oct 11, 2020 at 6:02pm PDT

The former Colorado State University star gets back to the winner’s circle by surviving a three-man parlay, rather, playoff in Sin City.

By Anthony Cotton

There may be an upcoming run on knee surgeries for pro golfers in Colorado looking to hoist championship trophies as part of their rehab.

Not long after his debut on the Champions Tour was delayed after going under the knife, Parker’s Shane Bertsch rallied in August to win the Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops Cedar Ledge. Similarly, after a layoff of more than three months because of the novel coronavirus, Martin Laird was also anxious to get back to work on the PGA Tour. However, the firmer Colorado State University star faced a detour of his own in June, when, a week before play resumed, Laird’s left knee went out, indeed requiring an operation.

Unlike Bertsch, who returned to action relatively quickly, albeit with fits and starts necessitated by his recuperation, Laird laid low, becoming a couch potato in Colorado.

Returning to play in September, Laird missed the cut and finished tied for 65th in his first two events. In the first weekend of October, he shot 9-under-par over four days, betting a tie for 28th at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. But that was just an appetizer for this past weekend, when the native of Scotland overcame a roller-coaster of a final round, winning on the second hole of a three-man playoff to take the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.

The victory was the first in seven years for Laird and his fourth overall on the tour—coincidentally, he also won the Shriners in 2009. This week’s win was worth $1.26 million for Laird, and continued a run of good fortune for former CSU golfers.

Golfweek Magazine took a look at Laird’s return to the winner’s circle.

READ HERE

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