Disabled Golfer Qualifies for US Open Again After ADA Battle (Video)

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Published on Thursday, 14 June 2012 12:52

Casey Martin has qualified a second time for the U.S. Open. Martin has a condition called known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome. The congenital circulatory disorder has damaged his right leg causing constant pain making it difficult for him to move around.

In 1998, he went through a long battle with the Proffesional Golf Association (PGA) because they did not want to allow him to use a golf cart during the tournament, which was essential for him to get around the course let-alone to play. The three year battle went all the way to the Supreme Court who ruled that his disability should make him an exception to the rule that players must walk the course.

Martin finished 23rd in the 1998 Open. Since then he had moved on to become the head golf coach at the University of Oregon. He had spent the week before the sectional qualifier for this month's U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, coaching Daniel Miernicki at the NCAA golf championships in Southern California. Martin won the qualifier shooting back-to-back 69s.

"I didn't prepare for this," he told The Register Guard. "I think maybe that's the secret. I just had a couple of swing thoughts, and they worked well. It all seemed pretty simple. I didn't complicate things."

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