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GREENSBORO -- Martin Laird, who tied for fourth place at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday, has won $342,525 in his past two events on the PGA Tour. In his previous 17 starts, he missed the cut eight times and pocketed a total of $145,566. Now he's in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

A weekend with a 64 and a 63 put a nice finish on an eventful week for Laird, one in which he went from the lead to nearly missing the cut. He was right on the number of 3-under-par 137 on Friday afternoon, but the Scot survived and advanced, as they say in the NCAA basketball tournament.

"I'm sure they'll be happy for me at home," said Laird, who played collegiately at Colorado State. "I'm not going to come back, but they'll be pleased."

WHAT IF? Danny Lee, an 18-year-old from New Zealand, posted the best finish by an amateur in tournament history when he tied for 20th. If he had been a pro, he would have taken home about $65,000, but he said he's not unhappy about it. Instead, he's looking forward to this week's U.S. Amateur, which begins today at Pinehurst.

Asked to compare his game to those of the men on the PGA Tour, he said, "Not as good as those great players out there, so I'm pretty happy with my result right now."

The Western Amateur champion is one of the favorites to claim the Havemeyer Trophy and the perks that come with it -- invitations to next year's U.S. Open, British Open and Masters, plus the next 10 U.S. Amateurs, as long as he remains an amateur.

"Playing with all these great golfers out here and competing with those great golfers, I think, is going to make me develop my game and give me lots of confidence when I get ready for (the U.S. Amateur)," Lee said Sunday at Sedgefield. "I didn't even think about playing this well."

ROLLING: The field played only 90 of 462 rounds (19 percent) over par for the week, and the stroke average was under par on each of the four days.

HOLDING ON: Nine of the past 10 leaders through 54 holes in Greensboro have gone on to win the event. Brandt Snedeker, who came from behind last year, is the exception to the rule. While that may not seem surprising on its face, consider that third-round leaders have won only 20 of 36 stroke-play events on the PGA Tour this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com