Martin realistic about new chances in pro golf

[Gxgolfer]

By Bill Fields - GolfWorld

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The last couple of seasons have consisted of sparse success and scant headlines, most of the latter coming late in 2005 after he failed at Q School and announced that pro golf would be in his rearview mirror soon. "I wouldn't be playing these events if I didn't think I could compete a little," Martin said last week. "It'll be exciting to get a chance to play. But I have a realistic view of life and my leg and my golf, and now is probably the right time for me to move on."

By the time he tees off in Nationwide Tour events near Chicago and in Chattanooga, Tenn., in June, Martin will know whether he has gotten the job as men's golf coach at the University of Oregon, replacing the retiring Steve Nosler.

"Growing up in Eugene, the Ducks have always been in my blood," said Martin, who has been helping the team as a volunteer assistant this spring. "I really love sharing what I've learned, whether [it's] about the swing or the mental challenges. I'm gearing up thinking it's a real possibility."

So much has changed for the 33-year-old Martin, it is important to remember what hasn't. The pain from his fragile right leg still interrupts dreams, and a misstep can result in a lot worse than a twisted ankle. Few knew what Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome -- a rare degenerative circulatory disorder -- was until Martin limped into view with everything a golfer needed except a sturdy right leg.

"I've said to [my sons] all along," Martin's father, King, told The Sunday Oregonian last year, "it's not failure but low aim that's a crime."

Casey never committed so much as a misdemeanor.

"I wanted to be great," he said poignantly in the aftermath of another Q School disappointment last fall. Measured by anything other than titles and trophies, he has been. He is far more than another thirtysomething pro golfer who hasn't been able to borrow the secret as much as he would have liked.

"There might be a Casey Martin that comes along every 15 or 20 years, if that," said his friend and attorney, Bill Wiswall. "That you would find a person like him who could overcome a disability the way he did and be able to play at that level."