Laird completed his 10th Phoenix Open on Sunday, and for the fourth time in his last eight trips to the event, he posted a top-10 finish.

This time, the former Ram placed ninth after an early-round run of four straight birdies (holes 3-6) vaulted him into second place.

Laird (pictured) went 68-67-68-68 for a 13-under-par 271 total, which left him five strokes behind champion Gary Woodland, a Kansas product. Laird finished with five birdies and two bogeys in the final round.

Sunday marked the 33rd PGA Tour top-10 for Laird, who has won three times on golf’s top circuit.

Laird’s finishes at the Phoenix Open in the last eight years include a third place in 2011, a fifth place in 2015, a seventh place last year and Sunday’s ninth-place showing.

For Phoenix Open scores, CLICK HERE.

Arvidsson Finishes Fifth in PGA Tour China Q-school: Former University of Denver golfer Oskar Arvidsson earned fully-exempt status on PGA Tour China on Sunday by finishing fifth out of 120 players in a four-round international Q-school tournament in Haikou in southern China.

Arvidsson, who qualified for the 2016 British Open, led after the first three rounds of the Q-school event. He posted scores of 67-67-74-74 for a 6-under-par 282 total and finished seven strokes behind medalist Jeffrey Kang, a former University of Southern California golfer.

Former CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Steven Kupcho failed to earn PGA Tour China status as he placed 51st at 12-over-par 300 (78-74-72-76). Kupcho missed conditional status by four strokes.

The top 15 finishers at Q-school will be fully exempt for the 14-tournament PGA Tour China season, with the next 25 conditionally exempt. This was the first of two international qualifiers for PGA Tour China.

For Q-school scores, CLICK HERE.
 

Wyndham Clark, fresh off his best showing as a pro after placing fourth in a Web.com Tour event in the Bahamas, will make his first PGA Tour appearance since November — and his eighth overall — as the Waste Management Phoenix Open gave him a sponsor exemption.

Clark (pictured), a former CGA Amateur and Pac-12 champion whose best PGA Tour finish is a 17th place at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, will tee it up at TPC Scottsdale starting on Thursday. He will go to Scottsdale having made two cuts in his seven previous PGA Tour appearances.

Joining Clark in the field for the Phoenix Open — also known as the “Greatest Show on Turf” — will be former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird, owner of three top-seven finishes at the event since 2011.

Meanwhile, a past winner of the Phoenix Open, part-time Boulder resident Jonathan Kaye, will be making his first Web.com Tour start since April as he’s in the field for the Panama Championship that also starts on Thursday, in Panama City. The two-time PGA Tour winner claimed his second CoBank Colorado Open title last summer.

Kaye, a former University of Colorado golfer, made three Web.com Tour appearances in 2017, making one cut. He finished 33rd in April at the United Leasing & Finance Championship.

Also in the Panama Championship field are several other players with major Colorado ties: Shane Bertsch, Mark Hubbard and Andrew Svoboda.
 

Instead, Laird (pictured) had to settle for his best finish on Tour since being runner-up at the RBC Canadian Open in July. The 2004 Denver Open champion, who started the final round of the Phoenix Open just a shot out of the lead, couldn’t get anything going Sunday at TPC Scottsdale and tied for seventh.

The good news is that Laird has posted three top-10s in six PGA Tour starts this season. The not-so-good news is that he didn’t make a birdie on Sunday (16 pars, two bogeys), which doesn’t translate into winning at an event such as the Phoenix Open.

As it was, Laird’s final-round 73 gave him a 13-under-par 271 total, which left him four strokes out of a playoff that was won by Hideki Matsuyama. It was the Scottsdale resident’s third top-10 showing at the Phoenix Open since 2011.

Also posting his best PGA Tour finish of the season on Sunday was Denver native Mark Hubbard, who placed 42nd at 6-under-par 278.

Both Coloradans who Monday qualified for the Phoenix Open, Jim Knous of Littleton and Michael Schoolcraft of Denver, missed the 36-hole cut. For more on them, CLICK HERE.

Here are the scores for all the competitors with strong Colorado connections:

7. Former CSU golfer Martin Laird 67-66-65-73–271
42. Denver native Mark Hubbard 69-69-71-69–278
Missed 36-Hole Cut
91. Jim Knous of Littleton 70-73–143
131. Michael Schoolcraft of Denver 80-73–153

For the entire Phoenix Open leaderboard, CLICK HERE.

Former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird (pictured), looking for his third top-10 finish in his first six starts of the 2016-17 wraparound season, shot a bogey-free 5-under-par 66 Friday at TPC Scottsdale and shares third place in his hometown event. With a 9-under-par 133 total, he trails co-leaders Byeong Hun An and Brendan Steele by one.

Laird is no stranger to performing well in the Phoenix Open, having finished third and fifth in the event just since 2011.

Denver native Mark Hubbard, who hasn’t posted a PGA Tour finish better than 72nd since July, has put himself in position to make some noise this weekend. Despite a final-hole double bogey as the sun set Friday — his only score worse than bogey for the day — the former CGA Junior Player of the Year fired a second straight 2-under-par 69 and shares 28th place.

Meanwhile, Monday qualifiers Jim Knous of Littleton and Michael Schoolcraft of Denver won’t be competing on the weekend after missing the 36-hole cut.

Knous, playng in his first PGA Tour event, was 3 under par for the tournament three holes into his second round, but a double bogey on the fourth hole combined with two bogeys in the middle of his round and water balls on 15 and 17 doomed his chances to make the cut. With three birdies, three bogeys and a double, he carded a second-round 73, putting him at 1-over 143 and in 91st place. He fell two shots shy of advancing to the final two days.

Schoolcraft, the medalist in Monday qualifying, finished 131st, missing the cut by a dozen on Friday. The Coloradan, competing in just his second PGA Tour event, played his final four holes in 3 under par by making birdie putts of 16, 16 and 12 feet. But he posted an 11-over-par 153 total (80-73).

Here are the scores for all the competitors with strong Colorado connections:

3. Former CSU golfer Martin Laird 67-66–133
28. Denver native Mark Hubbard 69-69–138
Missed 36-Hole Cut
91. Jim Knous of Littleton 70-73–143
131. Michael Schoolcraft of Denver 80-73–153

For the entire Phoenix Open leaderboard, CLICK HERE.

They’re both Colorado natives, both 27 years old (they were born exactly eight months apart), and, of course, they both excel at golf.

A decade ago, they competed against one another in CGA and CJGA tournaments, with Hubbard winning both the CGA Junior Match Play and Junior Amateur in 2007.

And, fast forwarding to Thursday, Hubbard and Knous both had 9 a.m. tee times at TPC Scottsdale for round 1 of the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, with Hubbard going off No. 1 and Knous No. 10.

And, at the end of the day, the two shared one other thing: They finished under par and were in position to make the 36-hole cut in Scottsdale.

Hubbard, in his third season on the PGA Tour, shot a 2-under-par 69 and shares 28th place. Knous (pictured), who Monday qualified and is competing in a PGA Tour event for the first time, posted a 70, good for 38th place.

Another golfer with strong Colorado ties, former Colorado State University golfer and current Scottsdale resident Martin Laird, was even better Thursday as the three-time PGA Tour winner played his final seven holes in 4 under per en route to a 67, which left him tied for ninth place with three rounds left in the tournament. Laird carded seven birdies on the day.

Knous, a former Colorado School of Mines golfer, was 3 under par through 12 holes, after going birdie-eagle-par-par-birdie in the middle of his round. The eagle came on the 442-yard, par-4 18th (his ninth hole), where Knous drained his approach from 160 yards away, in the right rough. He finished the day with an eagle, three birdies and four bogeys — all on par-4s.

Knous, who has status on the Web.com Tour this year, made it into the field for the Phoenix Open by shooting 65 at McCormick Ranch Golf Club on Monday to land the third and final qualifying spot.

Hubbard has struggled in the early part of the 2016-17 PGA Tour wraparound season, making just two cuts in seven events so far. But a four-birdie, two-bogey round on Thursday put him in position to make some noise in Scottsdale.

As for the fourth player with strong Colorado ties competing this week, Michael Schoolcraft of Denver was 9 over par through 17 holes before play was suspended due to darkness. (Friday morning update: he finished with a 9-over-par 80.) Schoolcraft, medalist in the same Monday qualifier in which Knous competed, bogeyed his first five holes Thursday before settling in in his second PGA Tour start ever. He finished the day with one birdie and 10 bogeys.

Here are the scores for all the competitors with strong Colorado connections:

9. Former CSU golfer Martin Laird 67
28. Denver native Mark Hubbard 69
38. Jim Knous of Littleton 70
130. Michael Schoolcraft of Denver 80

For the entire Phoenix Open leaderboard, CLICK HERE.

There’s something about the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open that seems to bring out the best in golfers from Colorado.

Over the last 50 years, an amazing four different golfers who grew up in the Centennial State have won the tournament. Kevin Stadler pulled off the trick most recently, three years ago, preceded by Jonathan Kaye (2004), Steve Jones (1997) and Dale Douglass (1970).

And on Monday, those good vibes seemed to be in full effect again.

In a Monday qualifier in which just the top three players earned spots in the Phoenix Open, two of qualifiers were Colorado residents. Michael Schoolcraft (pictured above) of Denver landed medalist honors with a bogey-free 10-under-par 62 at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, while Jim Knous of Littleton finished third (after Californian Alex Kim) with a 65.

The result is that Knous will be competing in his first PGA Tour event ever, while Schoolcraft will be making PGA Tour start No. 2. The Phoenix Open will run Thursday through Sunday amid the raucous atmosphere at TPC Scottsdale, which annually draws the largest galleries of the year on the PGA Tour. More than 600,000 people attended in 2016.

Schoolcraft, who finished ninth on the 2016 PGA Tour Canada money list, missed the cut in his PGA Tour debut, in the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in October 2015. The former University of Oklahoma golfer has conditional status on the Web.com Tour in 2017 after posting six top-20 finishes on PGA Tour Canada last year.

The 24-year-old Schoolcraft made an eagle and eight birdies in Monday’s qualifier.

As for Knous (left), it’s been a very eventful last couple of months.

In December, the former Colorado School of Mines golfer earned solid status on the Web.com Tour for the first time by finishing 23rd in the final stage of Q-school. Then this month, he played his first two events as a card-carrying member of the Web circuit, although he missed the cut in each case by an agonizing one stroke.

Then on Monday, less than a week after turning 27 years old, Knous took another big step, earning his first PGA Tour start. Knous made nine birdies at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in shooting 65 to land the final berth into the Phoenix Open. Cory Bacon, a friend from Mines, caddied for him on Monday and will do so in the tournament itself.

Knous is relishing the accomplishment all the more because for the last several years Knous and a bunch of college friends have made it a point to rent houses around Scottsdale and attend the Phoenix Open. This time around, all of them will be back for the 2017 edition, only Knous will be competing.

“It’s going to be incredible,” Knous told PGATour.com. “My college buddies and I … we all come down here and pile on 16 (the famously raucous par-3 at TPC Scottsdale), and get there super early and go watch and get rowdy …

“To be on the other side, actually hitting shots, is going to be wild. I’ve yelled at my fair share of golfers on No. 16, and now I’m going to be the guy getting yelled at.”

Knous, the 2012 NCAA Division II individual runner-up while at Mines, has long been known for his ability to shoot remarkably low scores in competition. Most notably, that includes the 2010 CGA Amateur, where he closed with a course-record 10-under-par 60 at Boulder Country Club to force a playoff, which was won by Wyndham Clark.

Schoolcraft and Knous will be joined in this year’s Phoenix Open field by Denver native Mark Hubbard, with whom Knous played junior golf in Colorado. Last year, Knous and his friends, wearing Broncos jerseys the day before the team won the Super Bowl, watched Hubbard play the 16th hole during the Phoenix Open. There, Hubbard also sported a Broncos jersey and tossed footballs into the stands. Knous turned out to be one of his “receivers” that day.

Perhaps this year Knous will be the one on the throwing end.

Also joining Schoolcraft and Knous in the field this week will be former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird, a Scottsdale resident who has posted third- and fifth-place finishes at the Phoenix Open since 2011.