Texas Open win sends Martin Laird to Masters

SAN ANTONIO — Martin Laird has spent six months on the driving range looking for answers to his struggling game.

The Scottish golfer finally found what he was looking for Sunday, winning the Texas Open with a final-round 9-under-par 63 to overcome a resurgent Rory McIlroy and earning a spot in the Masters Tournament.

Laird, who entered the week 161st on the money list, tied the course record with his bogey-free effort. He punctuated the 14-under round with birdies on the final three holes.

“I came in here quietly confident, even though my record this year has been poor to say the least,” Laird said. “But golf’s a funny game; doesn’t matter what you did two weeks ago. It turns around pretty quickly.”

The win was Laird’s third on the PGA Tour and his first since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2011.

He had missed four of eight cuts this year after a swing change in Sep­tember, including a missed cut at last week’s Houston Open.

Laird began the day four shots behind leader Billy Horschel, but he birdied five of his first eight holes to jump into contention. His 7-foot birdie putt on No. 8 – one of only 22 putts in the round – put him in a tie with Horschel at 10-under.

He held off a hard-charging Mc­Ilroy over the last few holes, including a stunning up-and-down for birdie out of the fairway bunker and off the fringe on No. 17. He finished with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th.

McIlroy, ranked No. 2 in the world, began the day at 6-under and posted 66 to finish two shots back and finish second – his best finish of the year.

“I feel like my game’s in really good shape going into next week,” he said. “A round like that gives me a nice bit of confidence.

Horschel shot 1-under 71 to finish in a tie for third with Jim Furyk and Charley Hoffman.

Laird became the first PGA Tour player to earn a trip to the Masters in the week before the tournament since Johnson Wagner won the Houston Open in 2008.

Laird played at Augusta National the past two years after his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2011, finishing 20th two years ago and 57th last year.

Well-known name or not, Laird overcame some of the world’s best on Sunday.

“I know how good Rory is, but it doesn’t matter if it’s Rory or Jim or Billy, if someone’s behind me making birdies like they were, I know I’ve got to keep making birdies,” Laird said. “That was a pretty strong leaderboard at the top there.”