Casey Martin is one of the few guys in the world who can accurately say he's held sway over Tiger Woods. When the two were Stanford teammates, Martin was one of the upperclassmen who put Woods in his place -- even as the Cardinal team stood in awe of his ability.

Next week he'll call Woods a fellow competitor again, having stunningly earned a U.S. Open berth at Olympic, the same club where he was an amazing story in 1998 after being granted an injunction to compete while utilizing a golf cart. While he later won a lawsuit against the PGA Tour for the right to use a cart, it was his lone major championship appearance.

Martin is now 40 and the University of Oregon coach, and he's still afflicted by Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, a birth defect that limits the blood flow in his lower right leg.

He'll be back in a cart again at Olympic, and he's still likely to give a hard time to his old teammate, who expressed nothing but admiration on Tuesday.

"Simply incredible," Woods tweeted. "Ability, attitude and guts. See you at Olympic Casey."

- Craig Stouffer

cstouffer@washingtonexaminer.com