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Martin Laird says he still harbours major Ryder Cup ambitions but won’t sacrifice time with his family to earn his place in the team.
Speaking during the PGA Tour’s CareerBuilder Challenge, where he finished T9 on 14-under-par, Laird was quick to dismiss the notion that he doesn’t care about the biennial match, which he believes is what some people think.
“People think that I don’t care about the Ryder Cup but that is not true,” he told GolfByTourMiss.com.
“The thing is my wife and I have two young kids and I can’t put crisscrossing back and forward to Europe and striving to qualify for the Ryder Cup above them and no, I don’t.”
Laird, currently the second highest-ranked Scot in the world at No.140, is not currently exempt from any of the four majors, while his path to possibly qualifying for France in two years’ time has been made tougher with the introduction of the new Rolex Series.
For any PGA Tour events Laird plays in that are opposite Rolex Series events, he won’t qualify for any points.
“The thing is that if you are not into the four majors or the WGC events it is a big commitment to travel the world playing both Tour’s with the goal of trying to make the European Ryder Cup team,” he added.
“I do understand why the Tour made the changes they’ve made but whether they are right or wrong I’m not going to say.
“But what I want people to understand is that I would love to experience playing for Europe in a Ryder Cup but for me it’s all about my priorities.
“Yes, the Ryder Cup is high up there but being home with my wife and two children spending quality time with them at present is a bigger priority.”
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