Martin Laird Shooting For First PGA Tour Win in Florida

Martin Laird shot 70 in the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida to take a two shot lead over Spencer Levin as he looks to get his first career PGA Tour victory.

The Scotsman had a decent round on Saturday to hold the lead after he shot 65 on Friday vaulting him to the top of the leaderboard.  Laird had it to 12-under early in the back nine on Saturday, but struggled a bit down the stretch finishing his round at 11-under.

Laird now has his third quality chance of 2011 to get his first win after contending most recently in Tampa at the Transitions Championship and before that at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Putting him at (5-6) may be wishful thinking, but one would think Laird is going to break through one of these days, and that could come very soon, as he’s had a number of chances recently and it’s only a matter of time before he learns how to win.

Spencer Levin, at (9-2), sits alone in second and he’ll have to bounce back after a rocky finish to his third round where he bogeyed the par-4 15th and then made a mess of the par-5 16th for his second straight bogey after dumping his third shot in the water.

Levin is three shots over par on the final six holes over the last two rounds and it could be the closing stretch is getting in his head which could hamper his chances in a close finish.

Bubba Watson, currently sitting at (13-2), is four off the lead in a tie for third with Steve Marino at 7-under and he’s got some work ahead of him if he wants to snag his second victory of the season.

With Laird playing relatively tidy golf, Watson will need to keep his considerable length in the fairway if he wants to make the kind of run it’s probably going to take to catch the leader as he hit just 57% of the fairways in round three.

Marino, meanwhile, was able to find the fairway regularly in the third round, but it was his ball striking that went awry as he only managed a 71 on Saturday hitting just 10 of 18 greens.  Even though he’s tied for third, Marino has garnered little support heading to the final round at (12-1).

Putting is like wisdom - partly a natural gift and partly the accumulation of experience    - Arnold Palmer