LAS VEGAS (AP) — Martin Laird misplaced an opportunity to win by making bogey on the 18th gap, solely to redeem himself in a three-way playoff by making a 20-foot birdie putt on the second additional gap Sunday to win the Shriners Hospitals for Kids Open.

Laird ended seven years with out a victory in a yr full of a lot doubt, which included knee surgical procedure proper concerning the time golf was set to renew from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 37-year-old Scot all of a sudden is flying excessive.

He wanted a sponsor exemption to play the event he gained in 2009. He ended it with a birdie to beat Matthew Wolff and Austin Cook dinner. It was the third three-man playoff in Las Vegas for Laird, who gained in 2009 and misplaced the next yr when Jonathan Byrd made a hole-in-one on the 17th gap on the TPC Summerlin.

Laird contributed a pair of massive pictures on the par 3.

He had a one-shot lead with two holes to play Sunday when he despatched his tee shot on the par-3 17th off a cart path and a few 30 yards proper of the inexperienced with the pin to the fitting. He hit a chip-and-run over the cart path, underneath the timber, between a pair of bunkers after which made a most unbelievable par with an 18-foot putt.

However he missed the inexperienced to the fitting on the 18th and chipped to 30 ft, two-putting for bogey and a 3-under 68 to fall right into a playoff at 23-under 261 with Wolff and Cook dinner, who every closed with a 66.

All of them made par on the 18th within the playoff, after which Laird ended it on the 17th along with his birdie. Laird, at No. 358 on the earth, turns into the third winner within the final 4 common PGA Tour occasions to be ranked outdoors the highest 300.

Now he has a two-year exemption, and he is headed again to the Masters in April and the PGA Championship in Could.

Laird appeared to have all the things going his method when he caught a buried lie close to the lip of a bunker whereas dealing with a entrance pin on the par-5 ninth. He blasted away, turned his head and regarded again to see the excellent shot trickle into the cup for eagle. That gave him a three-shot lead heading to the again 9.

However he could not maintain it.

Cook dinner by no means actually went away, closing inside one shot with a 40-foot birdie putt on the 17th and burning the sting of the cup on his birdie try on the closing gap. Wolff was by no means far-off and arrived in a strong burst with a two-putt birdie on the reachable par-4 15th, blasting a 375-yard drive on the par-5 16th and stuffing wedge to 10 ft for eagle.

Laird by no means misplaced the lead, although he was grinding to the end line. He needed to make a 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th, the best gap at TPC Summerlin. He performed away from the flag and water on the par-5 16th to 70 ft and got here up 15 ft quick, resulting in a three-putt par.

After which he made his nice escape on the 17th after a tee shot off the cart path. A par on the 18th was all he wanted for the victory, and he hung it out to the fitting, right down to a set space with a drain a yard in entrance of his ball.

Patrick Cantlay, who shared the 54-hole lead with Laird, was the most important shock of the day. Cantlay gained the event in 2017 and was runner-up every of the final two years. Fourteen of his 15 rounds on the TPC Summerlin have been underneath par. He opened with 4 bogeys in six holes and did not make birdie till the 13th, closing with a 73.

U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau closed with a 66, and that was the worst he may have accomplished. With a serving to wind, he performed the par 5s on the again 9 in 1 over. He additionally bogeyed the final from a bunker.

He tied for eighth in his first look since turning into a serious champion at Winged Foot, and he now goes again to the lab — or the gymnasium, in his case — for the subsequent month earlier than resurfacing on the Masters.

Abraham Ancer birdied the final two holes for a 67 to complete alone in fourth. Will Zalatoris closed with a 69 for a three-way tie for fifth, leaving him simply wanting sufficient FedEx Cup factors to earn particular momentary membership on the PGA Tour. His subsequent probability is in three weeks in Bermuda.