JIM SLATER, Potomac | Thursday 12.00pm.
TWO-time US Open champion Ernie Els and 1997 British Open winner Justin Leonard will be trying to regain their winning form when the PGA Kemper Open gets under way in Potomac on Thursday.
Disabled golfer Casey Martin is just trying to keep carting his way through the PGA, knowing his toughest fight here will not come on this suburban Washington course but at the nearby United States Supreme Court hearing room.
All three golfers are the center of attention at this three million-dollar event, the penultimate tour tuneup for the 100th US Open, which begins in a fortnight at California’s famed Pebble Beach.
Els, the only world top-10 player in the field, played only once since the Masters until last week, when he and Leonard shared second to Tiger Woods at the Memorial.
“I was very bored and when I came back I was very eager to play,” Els said. “I need a bit of competitive toughness to start winning again. This will be a good week for me. Maybe it’s an opportunity to break through.”
Leonard has only one victory since capturing titles here and at the British Open in 1997. The Memorial effort was his first top-10 result since January.
“I’ve got a fresh new attitude coming in here, having played well last week and I’m not thinking about the way I have struggled during the year,” he said.
Martin’s attorney, Roy Reardon, learned the PGA will take its legal fight against his cart to the Supreme Court when he was notified the tour will have until July 5 to file its motion.
“I’m disappointed,” Martin told the Washington Post. “In my heart, I knew they would. I wish they wouldn’t have done it. But it isn’t a surprise.”
The US court will decide late this year whether or not to hear the case in 2001. Martin won a federal court order requiring the PGA allow him to ride in a cart because of his rare circulatory disease that makes walking difficult. The PGA lost in an appeals court as well.
Martin won his way into the PGA lineup with success on a developmental tour last year but is in danger of losing his spot.
He ranks 157th on the money list with US$71721 dollars in 12 events with a season-best of 17th at Tucson. — AFP