Prior to the 2012 U.S. Open in San Francisco, Casey Martin had been out of the professional golf spotlight for a number of years, focusing instead on the task of building the University of Oregon golf program into a national contender. The thought of competing on a national stage never ebbed away completely however, and when the opportunity to return arose, Martin’s competitive drive shone through.
“I’ve been playing pretty well just when I have played – I haven’t played much – but when I’ve been working on my game it’s been pretty good,” Martin said. “It worked out that the qualifiers were pretty convenient (at the club where I had success in 1998) and the stars kind of aligned and I decided to go for it.”
As he began the qualifying process, few people payed much attention to the former local and Stanford star’s journey back to the US Open and the Olympic Club, where Martin made national headlines in 1998,  finishing in a tie for 23rd while using a golf cart to get around the course.
After making it through the first, local stage of the qualifying process, both Martin and members of the golf media began to believe that something special might be happening in Eugene.
“In golf circles, it was known that he got through local and he was going to play in sectional qualifying.”
“I was playing well and I was leading after the first round, and then I got off to a really hot start so I knew I had to be in the mix,” Martin said. “Those competitive juices come flowing back and you realize you’re in the hunt and you want it, so that was a fun experience for me.”
Prior to 2012, Martin last qualified for the US Open in 1998 after a lengthy legal battle that allowed him to use a cart over the objections of notable players including Jack Nicklaus, who testified that allowing Martin to use a cart would open the floodgates for people with minor ailments to gain an advantage, something that hasn’t happened at this point in time.
“I don’t believe that anyone has tried to apply for use of a cart on the PGA Tour (since Martin),” Herrington said. “Back in 1998, there was definitely more tension around the whole topic, and more questions about whether Martin should be able to have what was perceived as an advantage.”
This time around, Martin was the feel-good story of the tournament, returning to golf’s biggest stage as a the 40-year-old coach of a successful collegiate program with little focus on his use of a cart. Noted sportswriters such as Sports Illustrated’s Phil Taylor and ESPN’s Bog Harig focused instead on the journey that Martin had been on since that 1998 tournament, losing his PGA tour card and eventually taking the head coaching position at Oregon in 2007.
“There’s something to be said for not caring quite so much,” Martin said to SI. “Fighting for the right to play, then not being able to play well enough was tough. Knowing that not everyone was in favor of my even being there certainly didn’t help. But you learn and move on.”
Today, Martin’s focus is on the continued emergence of his Ducks’ golf program. Fresh off their second top-four finish in three years, Martin says he’s had to change his approach to the game while working with his squad and that it’s much different compared to working on his own game when he was a professional.
“I think you have to learn personalities; people are geared differently than me,” Martin said. “All I’d ever known was coaching myself, and now I have to coach people with different mindsets and different skill sets.”
“I’m drawn to (players) that aren’t cookie-cutter, people that are unique and do it their own way. I was surrounded by guys in my career that did it their own way, not necessarily against the book but had their own way of doing it.”
Though he had moderate success in San Francisco – missing the cut by one shot after shooting nine-over-par for the first two days of the tournament – Martin doesn’t plan to explore much of a return to the professional circuit, though he’d certainly welcome the opportunity.
“I’m going to play by ear, and if there’s an opportunity to play during the summer a little bit I’d love to do it,” Martin said. “Sponsors’ exemptions would be great; if something came, I’d love to compete a little bit but it’s not my first priority, my first priority is this job and to keep this program building.”