Ben Martin wins Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

LAS VEGAS – Ben Martin only beat one player at last week’s Frys.com Open. He got the best of them all at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, hanging tough on the back nine to claim his first PGA TOUR victory. Martin, the 54-hole leader for the first time in his career, shot 68 on Sunday at TPC Summerlin to finish at 20-under 264, two shots ahead of Kevin Streelman. Martin earned 500 FedExCup points for the victory, and is tied with last week’s winner, Sang-Moon Bae, for the FedExCup lead. Martin grinded through the first 14 holes Sunday, making just one birdie and two bogeys. He played the final four holes in 4 under. 

 “I like to play a fade, and starting off from the first hole today, I was hitting a draw, and never really could find that go-to shot,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I was 100 percent in command of where the ball was going, but I just said, ‘Hey, let’s play what I’ve got today.’” Martin was three shots ahead at the turn, but was tied for the lead when he reached the par-5 16th. He sank a 46-footer for eagle after two-putting for birdie on the drivable par-4 15th hole. He then sank a 19-footer for birdie on the final hole, grateful that he didn’t have to stress over a 3-footer for his first TOUR victory. 

The victory earned Martin a return to Augusta National. He last played the Masters in 2010 as the U.S. Amateur runner-up. A billboard was erected in his hometown of Greenwood, S.C. (pop. 23,000) to celebrate the accomplishment. Greenwood is only about an hour from Augusta, and Martin has been attending the Masters since he was a boy. The first one he remembers is Ben Crenshaw’s emotional victory in 1995. Martin, 27, also locked up his TOUR card through the 2016-17 season. This was Martin’s 56th career start. His previous best finish was third place, which he accomplished three times last season. “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.”

Leaderboard

POS	CTRY	PLAYER	TO PAR	R1	R2	R3	R4	TOT	EARNINGS
1		Ben Martin	-20	68	66	62	68	264	$1,116,000
2		Kevin Streelman	-18	71	67	63	65	266	$669,600
3		Russell Knox	-16	65	67	66	70	268	$421,600
T4		Webb Simpson	-15	69	65	67	68	269	$256,267
T4		Brooks Koepka	-15	69	68	64	68	269	$256,267
T4		Jimmy Walker	-15	69	69	62	69	269	$256,267
T7		Tony Finau	-14	68	65	70	67	270	$193,233
T7		David Hearn	-14	70	66	66	68	270	$193,233
T7		Scott Piercy	-14	67	67	67	69	270	$193,233
T10		Adam Hadwin	-13	67	72	69	63	271	$137,433
T10		Scott Brown	-13	70	67	68	66	271	$137,433
T10		Hideki Matsuyama	-13	66	71	68	66	271	$137,433
T10		Robert Streb	-13	71	67	67	66	271	$137,433
T10		Spencer Levin	-13	71	63	68	69	271	$137,433
T10		Brandt Snedeker	-13	67	68	67	69	271	$137,433
T16		Nick Watney	-12	68	69	69	66	272	$102,300
T16		Harris English	-12	71	68	66	67	272	$102,300
T18		Carlos Ortiz	-11	69	70	69	65	273	$68,014
T18		Charles Howell III	-11	70	69	67	67	273	$68,014
T18		John Senden	-11	70	68	68	67	273	$68,014
T18		Colt Knost	-11	68	72	65	68	273	$68,014
T18		Hudson Swafford	-11	69	67	68	69	273	$68,014
T18		Jim Herman	-11	68	72	62	71	273	$68,014
T18		Martin Laird	-11	64	70	68	71	273	$68,014
T18		Jason Bohn	-11	68	68	66	71	273	$68,014
T18		Alex Cejka	-11	69	68	65	71	273	$68,014
T18		Andrew Svoboda	-11	66	67	67	73	273	$68,014