Casey Martin, who successfully sued the PGA Tour for the right to use a golf cart at tournaments, had his right leg amputated Friday, Golf Digest reported.
Martin was recovering at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on Saturday after reportedly having his leg above the knee amputated.
Martin, 49, was born with a rare circulatory disease affecting the blood vessels in his right lower leg.
The condition known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome led to Martin’s battle with the PGA over a cart. Martin, who received a PGA Tour card for the 2000 season, said his leg condition made it impossible to run all 18 holes.
He cited the Americans with Disabilities Act and his lawsuit made it to the US Supreme Court. The vote was 7-2 in favor of Martin.
Although Martin had lifelong problems with his leg, the path to amputation began when he broke his leg two years ago. Allegedly, despite the plaster cast, the shin could not heal and repeated injections did not help.
“In many ways, I’ve exceeded what my doctors told me as a kid,” Martin recently told Golf Digest. “I always felt that this would be my destiny. So it’s strange to be here now and being seriously disfigured, but it’s not unexpected.”
Martin, who has been a men’s golf coach in Oregon since 2006, was a college teammate for Tiger Woods in Stanford. His career as a PGA player was short, participating in only 43 events, of which 29 came in 2000 when he made 14 cuts and finished in the top 25.
He performed in just nine events over the next five years before landing the coaching appearance. Martin also played at two events in 2012.
The Oregon native also played at two US Opens, finished 23rd in 1998 and missed the cut in 2012.
According to the PGA Tour, Martin made $ 206,874 as a player.
Martin told Golf Digest that he expects to be fitted with a prosthesis and that he will be able to play better golf – and maybe even tournament golf – when he recovers.
Oregon won the national team title in 2016 and finished runner-up in 2017.
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