By Sunday, the most remarkable
comeback in golf this year may no longer belong to the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Casey Martin is four rounds away from becoming a card-carrying member of
the PGA Tour.
While everyone was
either debating Ryder Cup revenue, salivating over that shot by Sergio Garcia or still wondering what Jean Van de Velde was thinking, Martin quietly
put together four top-10 finishes on the Nike Tour to climb to No. 12 on
the money list.
The top 15 after
the Nike Tour Championship this week are automatically exempt on the PGA
Tour next year. Commissioner Tim Finchem will be on hand in Dothan, Ala.,
to hand out the working papers.
For once the cards
are stacked in Martin's favor.
Martin declined interviews
leading to the Nike Tour Championship but told Golfweek magazine last week:
"It would be a lifelong dream becoming a reality, especially with the kind
of obstacles I've been up against."
Martin has a rare
circulatory disorder in his right leg known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber
Syndrome, which causes severe pain and makes it virtually impossible for
him to walk 18 holes.
For that reason,
he sued the PGA Tour and won the right to use a cart in February 1998.
The tour, which argued that walking is an integral part of the game, filed
an appeal that could be ruled upon by the end of the year.
Martin's talent has
never been in question. A teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford, he won on
the Nike Tour last year, qualified for the U.S. Open and nearly played
well enough at Olympic Club to get into the Masters.
Timing, however,
is critical.
Martin's leg isn't
getting any better. His best chance to make the big leagues could also
be his last chance.
It is mathematically
possible that at least four players from No. 16 on down could play well
enough this week and earn just enough money to bump Martin out of the top
15 and relegate him to another year on the Nike Tour.
But that wouldn't
be the greatest tragedy.
Imagine Finchem handing
Martin his diploma Sunday along with the rest of the Nike Tour graduating
class. Then imagine the 9th U.S. Circuit Court handing down a verdict in
favor of the PGA Tour.
What good is a card
if Martin doesn't have a cart?
A popular solution
is for the tour to ban carts from its tournaments, as it should, and then
grant an exception to Martin.
Jack Nicklaus, who
testified on behalf of the tour in Martin's lawsuit and adamantly opposes
carts on the PGA Tour, said that's what he would suggest if the tour won
the appeal.
"I'd grandfather
it in," he said. "I think that's the right thing to do in his case."
But Finchem indicated
Monday that would not be an option.
"We're in the same
posture we've always been," he said. "At this point, the policy board has
been very clear that we will try to maintain our rules, subject only to
what the courts say. If we were to prevail in court, we would implement
the rule."
At the moment, however,
Finchem is more interested in celebration than speculation.
As the commissioner,
his role is to protect the integrity of the game. Still, Finchem can't
help but cheer Martin around the track for his final lap.
"For anybody to get
through the Nike Tour and get their card is a stellar accomplishment,"
Finchem said. "It means you're one of the best players anywhere. To do
it with the adversity he's undergone -- not just physical adversity, but
with all the distractions -- is, well, incredible.
"He must be admired
and is admired by everyone in the game for what he's done."
It might not seem
that way to Martin. He could see Finchem on the course Sunday, then see
him in court down the road.
But Martin and everyone
else divided by the cart controversy would do well to keep the issues separate.
This isn't the PGA Tour against Martin, but the tour against the use of
carts at the highest level of competition.
"He probably feels
the world is against him," Nicklaus said. "He probably feels more people
are against him than really are. I think everybody is rooting for this
kid."
That includes Nicklaus.
And in spite of a
sticky situation it could create for the PGA Tour, that includes Finchem.
"It's just unfortunate
that we have a rule that negatively affects him," Finchem said. "But that
aside, you can't help but admire his accomplishments -- even if he falls
short."
The time now is not
to worry about a cart but to cheer on a courageous rider.
