PGA Tour vs. Sensibility

By Connor Doyle

Arizona Daily Wildcat

"All sports rules are silly rules, aren't they?"

Antonin Scalia, United States Supreme Court Justice,

while arguing on the case PGA Tour vs. Martin.

Casey Martin, a professional golfer with a rare circulatory condition known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome, likely has no more than five years before he will be confined to a wheelchair. And until then, he will be unable to walk even short distances without excruciating pain. Pain that most of us wouldn't be able to endure for a day, not to mention most of our lives.

While Martin's story is heartbreaking, he is no worse for his suffering than any other person in this country who suffers a similar disorder. However, he has decided that with the little time he has left to walk, he wants to play professional golf. All he has asked of others is the ability to use a golf cart while he plays.

Martin knew, like every other golfer, that carts were forbidden in tournament play. So he prepared a heartfelt petition to the PGA that contained descriptions of his condition and even some pictures of his right leg, which was visibly deteriorating. He felt that he could at least earn an opportunity to speak to Tim Finchem, the Tour Commissioner. But no meeting was scheduled. Martin was informed through a phone call that his petition was rejected, and the PGA seemed to think the argument would end there. It was discovered later that Finchem never even looked at the pictures that Martin had sent him.

"The lawyers have told us if we grant an exception,

we give up the argument that walking is fundamental to the sport,"

on the subject of granting Martin an exemption to use a cart in tournament play.

Why was the PGA, and Finchem in particular, so callous? It would trivialize the issue to claim that these men are heartless and don't feel sympathy for Martin's plight. To the contrary, Finchem has expressed both sympathy for, and a desire to help, Casey Martin. However, PGA officials seem to think that the rules of the association supersede all other factors in the case and see Martin's request as an affront to those rules. In addition to statements like the one above, assertions about the "future of the sport" and the "foundation of the PGA" have been thrown around like Bush cabinet nominees. This issue seems to have struck a chord with the old guard of golf, who not only feel that walking is fundamental to the sport, but probably also think that the universe revolves around the Earth.

I would love for someone to tell Martin, to his face, that riding a cart will give him an unfair advantage. That would give him the ability to laugh in theirs. Or - more precisely - spit in it. Not only is such a claim preposterous, but it's also soulless. The PGA has shown us the danger in blind ideology. These people fail to see that the rules are in place to serve the players of the sport, not to hinder them. They have removed the human being in question from the equation, and justify it by claiming that the game of golf is bigger than one man.

I would like someone to explain to me how granting Martin an exemption to ride a cart will destroy the sport. As a lover of golf, and all sports for that matter, I fail to understand this point that is so central to the case of the PGA, which has been taken all the way to the Supreme Court. They claim that Martin will have an advantage over the other players. That argument would be valid if the players he would be competing against felt that way.

But they don't.

In fact, support for Martin and his position has been overwhelming. Everyone who speaks of him describes him as one of the best people on the tour. All feel sympathy for his condition. Some do side with the PGA on this issue, but they're in the extreme minority. It's clear that the players want to see Martin, a golfer good enough to compete at the highest level in his sport, on the tour.

"I've come to know them. Why should I expect anything less?

It should be a pretty easy decision, but apparently not. Hopefully, we can get past it and move on. Apparently, two years (of me sitting out) hasn't been long enough for them."

Casey Martin, on the PGA's continued refusal to let him ride a cart on tour.

There's a deeper issue at stake here. How much longer are we going to overvalue sports in society? Lost in the argument is the fact that we're debating over a game. Nothing more. I won't belittle professional athletes on their career choice. As long as people pay to see others play games, then their choice is validated. However, for someone to argue that the rules of golf are more important than the wishes of a man with a debilitating disease, then we have lost perspective on sports entirely. Who cares if all of golf's rules are called into question? Until the PGA rulebook solves the Palestinian conflict, I don't want to hear any statements about the importance of the "no cart" rule.

The ideologues that run the PGA make a mockery out of sports. Does anyone remember a one-handed pitcher named Jim Abott? He was an inspiration to many, myself included. Casey Martin will be as well. The powers that be in golf need to scrap the dedication to "the rules" and begin to see what these policies affect. You're allowed to make exceptions, especially in cases like this.

What will be the legacy of the PGA? Will they be known as steadfast slaves to tour policy or as the league that allowed someone to fulfill his life's dream while inspiring us all?