Turning professional after college, he won his second professional tournament, the 2004 Denver Open, winning $12,000. In 2004 he played in a single Nationwide Tour event, the Envirocare Utah Classic, but did not make the cut. At the end of 2004 he qualified for the final stage of the PGA Tour's Qualifying School. He finished at 1 over par for a tie for 96th place, 18 shots behind the winner, fellow Brit, Brian Davis. This gave Laird conditional status for the 2005 Nationwide tour.