Casey Martin qualifies for the US Open after 14 years
Casey Martin, the men’s golf coach at Oregon, earned a spot in the US Open after recording an unexpected victory at a local qualifier.
Martin is the same person who made history 14 years back, when he became the first golfer to use the cart during the US Open.
He, by birth, has had a problem in his legs, which does not allow him to walk long. Therefore, he requested the Supreme Court to order the PGA Tour officials to allow him to play along with his able-bodied counterparts.
Thereafter, he won the Supreme Court decision and he now plays on the PGA Tour with some extra facilities to fix his leg problem.
This year, he has, once again, received a chance to play a major event and is now making preparations to record a good finish.
However, he is a bit confused about what strategy to use in the second major event of the year.
He told that he played really well in the qualifying tournament. However, he was not too worried about the results at that time.
Now, he has a totally different situation in front of him, as there is a huge difference between a qualifying tournament and the official tournament itself.
“I don’t quite know what my mindset should be,” he said. “I played well in the qualifier by really not really caring too much. So I kind of want to have that idea of being pretty laid back while I’m there and enjoying it, rather than being overly intense
about it”.
Casey has not played in the past few weeks, as he was busy in the Oregon Ducks’ postseason run. However, he chose to play the qualifiers because it was held near his residence.
“I do stay close to the game, and even though I don’t compete anymore. I decided that because it was a qualifier — it is the U.S. Open, and it’s true that it’s open to anyone who can qualify — I would go for it,” he said. “And lo and behold I made it”.
The 14-time major winner Tiger Woods also praised his performance in the qualifiers and wished him good luck for the Olympic qualifiers too.
“Simply incredible. Ability, attitude and guts. See you at Olympic Casey,” he tweeted.
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