Mighty Martin has many more battles to fight

CASEY MARTIN was convinced his professional golf career was drawing to a close. Making only one cut in eight 2002 Buy.com Tour starts through July was all the proof he needed.

“I don’t know how much longer I can grind it out,” he said at the La Salle Bank Open.

“I still think I can play, but I need to see some success. Things have to get better soon. If they don’t, I might take next year off to find out what’s out there.”

Ironically, he then went on to play his best golf for several years shooting 75 67 70 68, and finishing tied for third. His reward was a cheque for $21,600 and a rethink about that retirement.

Martin was left to ponder this latest twist to his fragmented career. “Golf,” he concluded, “is an elusive and cruel game. It keeps you wanting to come back, but you can’t wait forever to try to figure it out. I still want to get at it. But I’m realistic enough to know that at some point you have to call it quits.”

Martin’s most famous victory took place in court rather than on the golf course. The favourable Supreme Court ruling in 2001 in his lawsuit against the PGA Tour, ended his prolonged fight to ride a cart, needed because he suffers a rare circulatory ailment, Klippel Trenaunay Weber syndrome.

The court proceedings took an immeasurable toll on him with a procession of media inquiries, peer opinions, legal issues, and the often overlooked severe medical problems. Through it all, Martin remained sincere, polite, quick-witted and spiritual.

“Chat with him for a few minutes, and you’ll find that there’s nothing not to like about him,” says Dubliner Keith Nolan. “After all that he’s been through, you won’t find a trace of cynicism in him.”

What is evident, however, is Martin’s disappointment with his golf in recent years. In 2001, he earned only $17,917 and never finished better than 20th in 21 Buy.com events. Nolan is also struggling to find his game this season, and has earned only $9,000.

“Maybe I felt more pressure after the court win,” he said. “While it was going on, nobody expected anything out of you and you could just play. Maybe it was a letdown. I tried to do too much too soon in practice.”

Martin’s practice is curtailed because of his ailing leg. He can hit at most 100 balls on the driving range before the pain forces him to stop. The putting green is no kinder.

Thirty minutes is as much as he can endure at one time. Martin plays with pain daily, his tibia swelling grotesquely as he walks. Hence his high consumption of Advil (Ibuprofen): four in the morning, four at night, and two in between.

“It’s legal,” he said, “and I don’t need a watch to remind me that it’s time for the next batch.”

However, there is only so much pain the psyche can take on the golf course, and Martin steadfastly refuses to blame poor play on his leg.

“Has the leg hurt my swing? That’s a great question, and you always have some doubts. It’s a mental thing more than anything else. My confidence was shot after missing all those cuts, and try as I might I couldn’t find my game. Sure I could blame the leg, but that’s not an honest answer.

”The last couple of years haven’t been fun. It’s not fun travelling when you’re not playing well and you’re in physical pain on top of that.”

His third place finish at the La Salle Bank Open changed all that. One positive result has renewed his hope, however fleeting.

There are several career options open to Martin when he retires from the pro tour. As a motivational speaker, he earns around $40,000 per speech. And he has a huge interest in golf course design.