The Foursome, Quick 18, Stock up/down and more

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Martin Laird became the fifth consecutive player to pick up his first career TOUR win at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

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Any time you walk away $756,000 richer, it's a good day -- especially when you're leaving Las Vegas up that much. That's what Martin Laird got for winning the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on Sunday.

More importantly, though, the win gives Laird a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR, and the win also earns him a last-minute spot in the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions next month.

If I'm a betting man, I'd want to bring Laird with me to Nevada anytime. Remember, earlier this year he finished second at Vegas' cousin, the Reno-Tahoe Open. And last year, Laird tied for fourth in Reno.

Chad Campbell, on the other hand, didn't have such a good week, at least in the end (more on that below). -- Brian Wacker

Stock up

George McNeill: A birdie on the 72nd hole ultimately got McNeill into a playoff. Unfortunately, though, like his alma mater, Florida State, McNeill's approach on the third extra hole went wide left. Still, a tie for second moves him well inside the top 125 and locks up a card for next year. Money list: 87 (115 last week) Rickie Fowler: A birdie on the final hole Sunday not only gave Fowler a final-round 68 in his professional debut, but more importantly landed him a spot in the top 10 (tie for seventh). That means he won't have to use a valuable sponsor's exemption at this week's Frys.com Open. Money list: N/A Tom Pernice Jr.: If Pernice wants to play the PGA TOUR and the Champions Tour next year, he still has some work to do to get inside the top 125. But an opening-round 62 in Las Vegas helped him move a little closer to that magic number. Pernice wasn't great the rest of the week, but he'll be pushing hard the rest of the Fall Series. Money list: 144 (161 last week)

Stock down

Scott Piercy: A 2-over 73 at TPC Summerlin is like shooting in the high 70s on most courses on TOUR. It's also a sure way to play yourself right out of the tournament, which is what Piercy did on Sunday, closing with a pair of double bogeys. That's now two straight tournaments he's blown up in the final round. Money list: 86 (86 last week) Anthony Kim: This has certainly been a less-than-memorable season for Kim and a missed cut in Sin City didn't help any. Nor did firing his caddie, who still sounded a little bewildered over the decision early last week. It's been a long year for Kim on and off the course and right now the off-season can't come fast enough. Money list: 37 (37 last week) Leif Olson: The most bizarre round of the week definitely belonged to Olson, who withdrew after shooting an opening-round 88 -- and that was with two birdies on the card. Just two weeks ago, Olson nearly won at Turning Stone. In Las Vegas, he shot a front-nine 46. Olson withdrew after the first round due to illness. Money list: 150 (148 last week)

A Quick 18

Front Nine Back Nine The Chad Campbell who missed a four-footer in extra holes Sunday looked an awful lot like the same Chad Campbell who missed a nearly identical putt in extra holes at the Masters earlier this year. The putts even missed on the same side -- the low side. George McNeill didnt exactly come in on a hot streak. He'd missed his last four cuts, and his last top-10 before Sunday came back in his first start of the year, at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he tied for seventh. Better late than never, though. Campbell is now 0-for-3 in his career in playoffs on the PGA TOUR. The one in Las Vegas won't hurt as much as the one in Augusta did, but that doesn't mean it won't bother him. "Experience helps, but obviously it didn't mean anything," Campbell said. He won't win Rookie of the Year honors, but Jeff Klauk, who tied for fourth, has quietly put together a nice year with three top-5 finishes -- the others came at The Honda Classic and the U.S. Bank Championship. It looks like growing up at TPC Sawgrass is paying off. Campbell has also held or shared the 54-hole lead seven times in his career and though he's never finished out of the top two on any of those occasions, he's only gone on to win twice. Not a terrible percentage, but certainly not great, either. Stat of the Week I: Aaron Baddeley became just the 11th player this season to record 100 or fewer putts in a tournament. That Baddeley accomplished that isn't a huge surprise -- he's a very good putter. That he only finished in a tie for 38th with so few putts is. Jim Furyk's 62 on Sunday was the best final round of his career, which was sort of bittersweet because all it did was land him another top-10, his 11th of the season. Furyk's previous best final round? A 63 ... at the 1998 Las Vegas Invitational. Stat of the Week II: Laird became the fifth consecutive player to pick up his first career TOUR win at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. One of the players Laird beat -- McNeill -- is among that group, having won there in 2007. Speaking of Furyk, while that 62 was spectacular, as he admitted on Sunday, a bad hole, or a bad nine holes, or a bad round, is what has kept him from winning since 2007. "I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me," he said. "Now that it's brought up, it is only my fault." Stat of the Week III: For the first time in his career, Andres Romero recorded four rounds in the 60s in a tournament. His 72-hole total of 16-under 268 was also a career best. Credit the performance, in part, to a decision to go home to work on his game back in August. To Furyk's point, he's exactly right. He ranks fourth on TOUR in scoring average before the cut, but is only 116th in third-round scoring average while ranking 17th in final-round scoring average. He'll win again eventually, but not with numbers like that. Adding to the earlier point about Anthony Kim and his caddie, Eric Larson, parting ways, Kim will go with college teammate and buddy Brodie Flanders the rest of this year and what sounds like next year, too. "Obviously, I was disappointed," Larson told GOLF CHANNEL. Two other key numbers: For as good a ball-striker as he is, Furyk is just 68th on TOUR in par-3 performance, playing them in a combined 17 over. You expect him to struggle a bit on par-5s, but not on par-3s. He also ranks just 85th in greens in regulation. Depending who you believe, Rory McIlroy may or may not join the PGA TOUR in 2010, or 2011. Does it really matter, though? At some point he's going to join. "Fifteen [starts] is not hard to do ... but I've not announced anything yet," he said last week. The week wasn't all bad for Scott Piercy. He and wife Sara gave birth to their third son (Jett) Thursday at 9:44 p.m. at San Martin Hospital in Las Vegas. Tweet of the Week: "Just pulling in to the Swamp, it's getting busy now, blue and orange every where, loving their passion." -- Ian Poulter (@ianjamespoulter) tweeting from the Florida-Arkansas game Saturday afternoon. Seriously, where isn't Poulter these days? He's everywhere. Speaking of Piercy, we're still waiting for a rookie to win this season, something that seemed almost certain given the way Webb Simpson and Marc Leishman played at various points this year. There are still three more opportunities, though. A spot in the top 125 on the money list isn't the only thing a lot of guys are playing for in the Fall Series. Kevin Streelman, J.J. Henry and a few others are pretty focused on the Kodak Challenge, and why not -- they could nearly double their on-course earnings by winning the $1 million first prize.

The Forward Spin

Two down, three to go for the Fall Series. That means time is running out for guys trying to climb their way into the top 125 on the money list. The Frys.com Open is where Cameron Beckman did just that last year, beating Kevin Sutherland in a playoff. This week, the man on the bubble is Chris Stroud. He's had the typical up-and-down year of a player ranked 125th on the money list with one top-10 and four top-25s, but he's also had periods of poor play with five missed cuts in seven events at one point this year. He also missed the cut and had a WD in three of his last five events, though does come in off a final-round 63 in Las Vegas. Can he build on that? He won't have to travel far to find out.