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68 to secure the win, but it was far from easy. He couldn't get anything going his first 14 holes in the final round, but then he caught fire at just the right time playing the final four holes in four-under-par courtesy of a birdie-eagle- par-birdie finish! He had a three-shot lead as he made the turn, but Streelman (playing a few groups ahead) caught him and had passed him when Martin reached the par-5 16th. He came to that hole with good vibes after driving the green on the previous hole, a par 4, and two-putting for birdie. He then hit No. 16 in two and dropped a 46-foot putt for eagle to reclaim the lead for good. A rock solid birdie on the closing hole saw him home in style. The victory earned Martin a return to Augusta National. He last played the Masters in 2010 as the U.S. Amateur runner-up in 2009. A billboard was erected in his hometown of Greenwood, S.C. (pop. 23,000) to celebrate the accomplish- ment. Greenwood is only about an hour from Augusta, and Martin has been attending the Masters since he was a young man. Martin, 27, also locked up his PGA Tour card through the 2016-17 season. This was Martin's 56th career start. "It takes a little bit of the stress off," he said. "Any time that I can be more relaxed going into the tournament, the better I'm going to play." Indeed, calendar year 2014 has been a great one for Martin as he enjoyed a breakout year on the 2013-14 PGA Tour with three third place fin- ishes coming in Puerto Rico, Hilton Head Island and at famed Congressional. He won $1.482 mil- BEN MARTIN BREAKS THROUGH FOR HIS FIRST WIN ON THE PGA TOUR lion for the season, good for 70th on the money list and 76th in the final FedEx Cup standings. Tuscaloosa ties explained… Ben Martin's father Jim attended the Universi- ty of Alabama in the mid-70's, as did his brother Les, a couple of years later. "Our family grew up in Brewton and had long been indoctrinated in Alabama football," Jim Martin, who also lives in Greenwood, said. "Ben was a very good player (in high school), but not a nationally ranked player," Martin con- tinued. "He never played outside of our home state of South Carolina except in two U.S. Ju- niors and thus was not heavily recruited." The timing was such that Ben was coming up around the same time as Alabama men's golf coach Jay Seawell was just getting his feet wet in his then-new job. (Another South Carolina connection is that the Seawell family is from the Palmetto State). In due course Martin ended up at Clemson, a highly touted golf program in its own right. And father and son still try to make an annual trip to see an Alabama home game, which they did for the recent Florida game, where they met up with, amongst others, FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel, a big Florida Gators fan. Please take note of the Thompson TEES Off icon. Every place you see this icon, click on it to subscribe. An annual subscription is only $30 a year -- less than 60 cents an issue -- fi lled with exclusive, local content delivered to your in-box every Thursday. Ben Martin

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