Casey Martin tol return to U.S. Open
Golfer Casey Martin qualified for next week's U.S. Open at the Olympic Club for the first time in 14 years.
Now 40 and the golf coach at the University of Oregon, Martin earned one of two spots in the 112th U.S. Open, with the other to be decided in a Tuesday playoff. He shot consecutive 69s to edge Daniel Miernicki, and Nick Sherwood by a stroke.
"It means a lot," Martin told the Golf Channel. "I mean I haven't really had a lot of time to think about it. It's just with the national championship (Oregon made it to the NCAAs last week), I was just so involved in that.
"I think that actually helps coming back. I really haven't even thought about this. So I just kind of went and played golf. And amazingly for not playing in nine days before this tournament, or before today, I played great. I hit a lot of great shots. I was choking down the stretch, I mean, but I hit a lot of great shots. I was kind of, I was enjoying it. It was kind of different. So I liked it."
Martin has a birth defect in his lower right leg that makes walking extremely painful. Called Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, it limits the blood flow in his lower right leg.
In 2001, Martin won a lawsuit against the PGA Tour that went to the Supreme Court, allowing him to use of a cart under the Americans With Disabilities Act. He was granted an injunction in 1997 and qualified for the Open in 1998, when he tied for 23rd in his only appearance in a major championship.
His tour career ended in 2006 when he took the Oregon job, and he hadn't tried to qualify for the Open in five years. But he made it through a local qualifier last month.
