I'm playing catch-up

Mart could be Laird of manor with first-ever home success

- JIM BLACK

GLASGOW-BORN Martin Laird is desperate to scratch a 21-year itch by winning his first-ever tournament on home soil.

Laird, who turned professional in 2004, has racked up eight career wins but all of them have been in the States, including four on the PGA Tour.

But the 42-year-old has his heart set on capturing the £2million Nexo Championship title at Trump International outside Aberdeen this week in his first event in Scotland since 2018.

Laird, who claimed his most recent PGA Tour title at the 2020 Shinners Hospital For Children Open, has been prevented by his schedule on the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours from returning to the Scottish Open.

But a reduction in the number of tour cards on the main circuit - from 125 to 100 - has freed him up to return to his homeland.

He explained: "The way the Scottish Open falls was always a tough one for me for a few years.