Martin Laird is relishing the chance to emulate compatriots Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren after confirming he will represent Scotland in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup from November 24 – 27.
The leading 18 nations in the Official World Golf Ranking on Monday, July 18 qualified for the biennial event, which will take place at Mission Hills Resort, Hainan Island, China, and Scotland are 11thcourtesy of Laird being World Number 26.
He and his partner, the next highest-ranked Scottish player on the Official World Golf Ranking on August 22, will hope to follow in the footsteps of Montgomerie and Warren, who led Scotland to glory in 2007, beating the United States – Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley – in a play-off.
“I really can’t wait to get to the World Cup and represent Scotland,” said Laird. “I remember how much fun it was playing for my country when I was an amateur and it will be just as big a thrill to travel to China and hopefully put the Saltire at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday night.
Asked whether he watched Scotland’s victory four years ago, the 28 year old said: “I did and it was great. I think I’m right in saying that they lost in a play-off the year before and then they won in 2007, which was a fantastic achievement. I remember sitting watching that on the television and thinking to myself, ‘I want to be out there doing that for Scotland one day’ and now I have the opportunity so it is a tournament I am really looking forward to.”
Laird is plying his trade on the US PGA Tour this season – he has had five top tens this year, including victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March – but remains deeply patriotic, displaying the Scottish flag on his bag, clothes and equipment.
“It would have been easy for me to go over to America and kind of blend in but I deliberately tried to keep my Scottish roots strong and let people know where I am from,” he explained. “So to go over to China and represent Scotland will be pretty cool and hopefully we can go over there – whoever ends up being my partner – and have a great week.
“Stephen Gallacher is the only other Scot in the top 100 of the World Ranking right now so it would be me and Stephen. I played a practice round with him at the US Open and I got to know him really well there and he is great guy and has been playing well. If it does end up being me and Stephen then I think it would be a great team.
“There are a lot of Scots playing well right now on The European Tour so if someone could grab a win here or there then who knows what might happen.”
The Glasgow man added: “I played in China a couple of years ago at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai but never at Mission Hills. I have heard a lot of good things about it and I am looking forward to getting over there.”
Eighteen of the 28 participating countries will be confirmed at the end of July, when the leading 18 players in the Official World Golf Ranking must confirm their entry. Nine more nations will qualify via the Regional Qualifiers in Asia, Europe and South America, with the top three from each gaining exemption. As the host nation, China qualify automatically for the World Cup to complete the field.
