Martin Laid won only his fourth PGA Tour title when he beat Matthew Wolff and Austin Cook in a playoff on Sunday to secure victory at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
The Scotsman carried an important overnight lead into the final round but was always going to have a stern test on the last day in Las Vegas.
Laird played some really good golf, though, and produced a number of excellent moments that kept him at the top of the leaderboard.
The 37-year-old went into the 18th hole with a one-shot lead but a difficult bogey meant Wolff, Cook and he headed back to final tee for a playoff hole as the trio finished on 23 under par.
All three players managed to save par on the first deciding hole, which resulted in another playoff shot on the par-three 17th hole.
Laird rose to the occasion to make a spectacular birdie putt to hand him his first win on Tour in more than seven years.
Rolling it in Vegas for the win. ?
Martin Laird is victorious in a playoff @ShrinersOpen!#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/EByHKa20Qi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 12, 2020
‘Seven years since my last one. Probably feel like now my game is really as good as it has been. Been playing well the last few weeks, just haven’t had the results,’ said Laird about his victory.
‘But I love it here. I got to say they were nice enough – I needed a sponsor’s exemption to get into this week, so big thank you to Shriners for giving me that spot.’
In the end, Louis Oosthuizen finished the week as the highest-placed South African in the field on 16 under par and in T19.
Dylan Frittelli, the only other local player to make the cut for the weekend, concluded with a final-round 70 to secure T34 on 13 under.
