Love qualifies for US Open
UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio — Davis Love III is going back to The Olympic Club for the U.S. Open, this time as the 48-year-old Ryder Cup captain and not the reigning PGA champion.
Even more stunning is that Casey Martin and his cart will be there, too.
A full day of U.S. Open qualifying on Monday ended in Oregon with Martin, now the 40-year-old golf coach at Oregon, making a 5-foot par putt on his last hole to earn a spot next week at Olympic, where in 1998 he tied for 23rd while riding in a cart. Martin has a rare circulatory disorder in his right leg, and he eventually won his lawsuit against the PGA Tour to ride.
“It means a lot,” Martin said, who is canceling plans to go to North Carolina on a recruiting trip.
Love qualified for the U.S. Open for the third time in the last six years with a 139 at Scioto Country Club and Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.
Love, who finished tied for 16th at the Memorial on Sunday, said it never crossed his mind to just bag it and go home rather than extend an already long week by playing 36 more holes.
The 48-year-old Love has won 20 tournaments around the world, including the 1997 PGA Championship. He was among 16 players to qualify from the biggest of the 11 sectional qualifying sites across the country on Monday.
