Casey Martin recalls Stanford days with Tiger
June 12, 2012

Driving around The Olympic Club brought back memories for Casey Martin that stretched beyond the last U.S. Open here and to his playing days with Tiger Woods down the road at Stanford.

Martin, Woods and the rest of the Cardinal often played each other for friendly cash wagers. Once, Martin said, he and teammate Notah Begay III beat Woods and Conrad Ray - now the Stanford men's golf coach - and won about $40, leaving the freshman Woods wanting an immediate rematch.

''We were leaving the next day on a trip,'' Martin recalled Monday after his practice round. ''And (Woods) says, ''I'll come out and let me try to earn it back.''

So the foursome played again.

Martin, who became the first player allowed to ride a cart at the U.S. Open in 1998 because of a painful circulatory disorder in his right leg, had a tremendous putting round. He won $192 from Woods, made a copy of the check and sent it home for his mother to cash.

She also put the copy in a scrap book, which the family still shows off to guests.

''So it's official,'' Martin said. ''You can come track it down. It happened. And, you know, it may never happen again, but it definitely did happen.''

Martin, now the golf coach at Oregon, also joked he might give Woods a chance to win back the money when the pair play a practice round together Tuesday.

''The problem now and the word on the street is it's hard to get,'' Martin said. ''I know that it's tough to get that wallet out. So at least that's what I've been told. So I'm going to give my best (Tuesday) to get in there.''