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tain his card dropping to the Web.com Tour where he struggled to finish in the top 60 and thus retain his playing privileges for 2012. He just did so and broke through with his first professional win last year in the United Leasing Championship, after triumphing in a four-way playoff that was postponed a day due to bad weather. No doubt his win, which guaranteed him status back on the PGA Tour this year, was celebrated in parts of South Carolina and Tuscaloosa in equal measure. Fast forward to this season and Martin is making his way very nicely on the PGA Tour. Sunday he finished T-3 in the RBC Heritage over famed Harbour Town Links on Hilton Head Island in his home state of South Carolina. Rounds of 69-68-71-67--275 left him two back of eventual champion Matt Kuchar. This tied Martin's previ- ous best third place finish in the Puer- to Rico Open, but the RBC Heritage was against a much stronger field. After his strong play in Puerto Rico he was in a mini-slump of four missed cuts in a row, before getting his game back on track at Harbour Town. His high finish moves him from 113th to 65th on the FedEx Cup points list. He has now won over $707,000 in 14 events and is all but guaranteed to keep his card for next year. It also helps him plan out his schedule the rest of the year as he should get into selected Invitational events such as Colonial, Memorial and the AT&T, plus he is now close to mak- ing the Players Championship field. BEN MARTIN IS MAKING HIS MARK ON THE PGA TOUR Alabama's 13, Birmingham's NBC affiliate, has partnered with Thompson Tees Off's Ian Thompson, to bring area golfers "Tee Time." This golf segment will air EVERY THURSDAY within Alabama Tonight, between 6:30-7:00 p.m. Hope you enjoy Tee Time every week, featuring Don Hawes, the lead sportscaster on Alabama's 13, along with special guests. Thompson will be a weekly con- tributor to the show and will be on air with Hawes on a regular basis. Click here to view Tee Time His RBC Heritage performance was truly a family affair as his parents Jim and Suzie watched all four rounds and his younger brother Matt filled in for Ben's regular caddie, Alex Boyd, over the weekend, as he had a wedding to attend. No word on how the caddie money will be split! Congratulations to Martin on his year-to-date. He has a chance to really push on now and have a mon- ster year. I'll be following his progress with anticipa- tion… Ben Martin "It came to the last day and Clemson were paired with Alabama in the final wave. It was the first time in my life that I didn't cheer for the Crimson and White!"