You have to root for a guy like Casey Martin. Here’s a guy whose right leg is as worthless as a Big Bertha on a putt-putt course, and against the odds he is pursuing his dream.
You wince with every painful step he takes walking from the cart to his shot. Then you applaud when he lasers that shot 3 feet from the pin.
You love underdogs and Casey Martin’s plight is right out of Hollywood. Not only does he go up against the system, but the former college teammate of Tiger Woods then goes out and wins his first pro tournament. What’s in the water at Stanford anyway?
In your heart you would love to say, ride, Casey, ride. And you would if this was about only one golfer.
But there’s a hitch. This isn’t about only one golfer. This is about all the golfers on the PGA Tour.
This isn’t about letting one golfer with a disability use a cart so he can compete on tour. This is about everyone playing under the same rules and under the same conditions.
So as heartless and unsentimental as it seems, the PGA Tour is doing the right thing by upholding its principle of walk, don’t ride.
Martin’s supporters, and there are many, can’t understand the fuss in fighting over using a cart. They contend golf is the one sport where a 25-year-old with a severe circulatory condition in his right leg still should be able to participate–provided he can keep the ball in the fairway. That’s the crux of Martin’s lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
Deep down, however, Martin has to know why the PGA Tour is resisting his challenge, even in the face of unbelievably bad public relations. Martin was a golfer before he became a plaintiff and he must realize why many of the touring pros can’t support him.
It’s simple: Riding in a cart, while everyone else walks, can be a huge edge.
First, there’s the obvious: When the summer’s heat turns the grass brown, and golf shirts are acting like sponges for sweat, Martin clearly is 3-up by riding in a cart. Anybody who says a cart is not a factor never walked 18 holes on a 95-degree day.
Think Ken Venturi would have liked a cart at the memorable 1964 U.S. Open played in the grueling Washington, D.C., summer heat? Just imagine the reaction if Venturi, who nearly keeled over from heat stroke, somehow struggled to the 18th hole, only to lose by one stroke to a golfer who received a special exemption to ride a cart. The debate would have reached Congress.
Heat didn’t come into play last week, but a cart still might have been the difference in Martin’s victory at the Nike Tour stop in Lakeland, Fla.
Martin beat Steve Lamontagne by one shot. While Martin rode on a cart, Lamontagne walked 72 holes despite taking two painkiller injections for an ingrown toenail, which had to be removed before Saturday’s round.
Now an ingrown toenail doesn’t compare to Martin’s condition, but it can be an extremely painful experience. Could it have been worth one shot to Lamontagne?
“Where do you draw the line,” Lamontagne said. “Do you get a cart on Saturday if you have surgery that morning?”
Lamontagne is right: Where does the line get drawn?
Jose Maria Olazabal missed almost two years because of a severe foot problem. Should he have been eligible for a cart to allow him to return quicker?
If the answer is yes, then Paul Azinger should have been given the keys to a cart in the aftermath of his bout with cancer. And what about those golfers with bad backs, a debilitating condition for many players. Perhaps their carts should come with orthopedic back seats.
Where does it end? Many of Martin’s supporters say it shouldn’t end. They argue the best way to handle the situation is to give all PGA Tour players the option to use a cart, like they do on the Senior Tour.
That would be a triple-bogey wrong. First, the Senior Tour is a completely different enterprise with the lines sometimes blurred between competition and exhibition.
Second, the PGA Tour rules shouldn’t be changed for one player.
Regardless of what some people think, golf is a sport. To be able to play that sport, the golfer should be able to withstand all the physical challenges.
Ben Hogan didn’t have special rules for him after his legs were mangled in a near-fatal car accident. The greatest shotmaker of all time had to limit his schedule.
The harsh reality in sports is when the body gives out it is time to do something else. As cruel as it sounds, Casey Martin is going to have to go the same route.
Martin is at a disadvantage if he doesn’t use a cart, and he is at an advantage if he does use a cart. The playing field never will be level for him. No court in the land can do that.
Sure, it’s not fair if Martin is stopped in his bid to become a professional golfer. But then as anyone whoever has picked up a club knows, golf is not a fair game.
