Two players with strong Colorado ties earned spots in the PGA Tour’s 2016 FedExCup Playoffs, with Denver native Mark Hubbard (pictured) qualifying for the first time and former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird being an old hand at the postseason.
With the top 125 finishers on the regular-season FedExCup points list making the playoffs, Laird ended up 89th and Hubbard 113th.
The first of the four playoff events will be contested Thursday through Sunday at The Barclays, which this year will be played at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. The top 100 on the FedExCup points list after The Barclays will advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship, then 70 will make the BMW Championship and 30 the Tour Championship.
Each playoff event has an $8.5 million purse. There’s also a $35 million FedExCup bonus pool at stake.
Hubbard, who swept both of the CGA’s major junior championships in 2007, is hitting the home stretch of his second season on the PGA Tour. So far in the 2015-16 wraparound season, he’s made 21 cuts in 29 events and earned $642,942. He’s posted four top-20 finishes this season — with a best of 15th at the Puerto Rico Open — but has missed the cut in his last two starts.
Meanwhile, this will be Laird’s seventh FedExCup Playoffs, with 2010 his most successful year as he made it to the Tour Championship. Twice he’s recorded top-10 finishes at The Barclays, including losing in a playoff there six years ago. During the 2015-16 season, he’s had four top-11 finishes, including a tie for second at the Canadian Open last month, and has earned more than $1.1 million. Laird has three PGA Tour victories to his credit overall.
