With the Masters one week away, Martin Laird gave himself some nice momentum heading into the tournament, winning the Texas Open on Sunday with a record score to set the course record for his first win on the PGA Tour in over two years.
According to the Associated Press, Laird set a record at the Texas Open with a nine-under par 63 to win the tournament, keeping Rory McIlroy at bay, finishing two strokes back after struggling for most of the year. Laird won on the tour for the first time in two years and finished two up on McIlroy and three ahead of Billy Horschel. Laird made a comeback on Sunday to win the tournament after starting the day four strokes behind and had a fantastic round, going 14-under with zero bogeys to win for the first time in his career. The last time he won was at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2011 and this season he has already missed half of the cuts in the events that he has played in.
McIlroy had a strong finish to the tournament after struggling all season on tour after switching to new Nike clubs, putting up a 66 on Sunday to finish two strokes back. McIlroy missed the cut at Abu Dhabi and was eliminated at Match Play and also quit at the Honda Classic before deciding to add the Texas Open to his schedule. McIlroy seemed to turn a corner over the weekend, coming back from six strokes behind at the start of the day before finishing with a 66.
McIlroy is now the number two golfer in the world after Tiger Woods won at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and now he is on the defensive after struggling all year. Woods has won six times over his past 20 starts and three times on tour this year, including the Farmers Insurance Open and the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
Horschel finished tied with Charley Hoffman and Jim Furyk on the leaderboard and he had the lead heading into Sunday before Laird pulled through. McIlroy was within one shot at one point and made seven birdies during the round, including a 13-foot putt shot on the 16th hole. McIlroy hit half of his fairways, but was much better on the greens than he has been all season.
Woods and Phil Mickelson are the early favorites for the Masters next week and McIlroy may have put himself back in that position after strong play in Texas. McIlroy added the tournament at the last minute as a tuneup for the Masters and his plan appeared to work.
