5. 14.2012

martin among
those moving on

the 9,006 players who entered the u.s. open will be trimmed to 976 when the last of 109 local qualifying tournaments concludes thursday. some familiar names have advanced to the sectionals after the first two weeks of qualifying. pga tour players marc turnesa, glen day and eric axley will move on, as will sam saunders (arnold palmer’s grandson), matt weibring (d.a.’s son) and olin browne Jr. illinois men’s golf coach mike small also advanced; so did casey martin, who’s enjoying life as men’s coach at oregon after successfully suing the pga tour for the right to use a cart in competition in 2001. martin, who turns 40 June 2, shot 70 at royal oaks cc in vancouver, wash., may 7, tied for third with, among others, oregon freshman rak cho, made it to the next round June 4, at emerald valley cc in creswell, ore. “i played well and it was fun to have some of those nerves and some of those butterflies that i haven’t had in a while,” said martin, who finished t- 23 at the 1998 u.s. open at olympic club, but hadn’t tried local qualifying in five years. it’ll be a quick turnaround for martin who hopes to lead the sixth-ranked ducks to the ncaa championship at riviera cc, may 29- June 3. martin, who suffers from the circulatory disorder klippel-trenaunay-weber syndrome in his right leg, made the last of his 41 pga tour appearances in 2005. —J.A.