Martin Draws Crowd In Return To Nike Tour

They gave him cart No. 162 with the initials “C.M.” and no roof.

Disabled golfer Casey Martin replied with spectacular shotmaking before one of the biggest weekday galleries anyone could recall for a Nike Tour event.

Martin, playing for the first time since he won the right in court to use a cart as a professional, shot a 3-under-par 69 Thursday at Austin, Texas, with a Tiger Woods-kind of charisma that draws people to the game.

Martin’s 69 had him near the early lead, trailing Michael Allen by three shots.

At Miami, Curtis Strange, who hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since taking his second consecutive U.S. Open in 1989, captured some of his old magic and shot a 68 to share the first-round lead of the Doral-Ryder Open with four others.

Battling allergies and just recently over Bell’s palsy, which paralyzed the left side of his face for more than a month, Strange played several brilliant iron shots on the back nine before stumbling with consecutive bogeys to finish his round.

He played in the windier afternoon yet was able to catch Mark Calcavecchia, Bob Tway, Mike Brisky and Ronnie Black, who shot 68s in the calmer morning.