THE MODERATOR: All right, we're here with Ford Martin from local Potomac, Maryland. You are hitting the first tee ball tomorrow. How special that going to be?
FORD MARTIN: That's incredible. I got the tee sheet for Monday and Tuesday and saw I was first off one, and means a lot to me being able to get the tournament started for everybody here properly.
Hopefully I'll send one for everybody else in the field.
Q. We talked about it a little bit in media day, but what do you expect the crowd support from friends and family to be since you're from right up the road?
FORD MARTIN: Well, I expect there to be a lot more people than there were last year in Kansas. My wife is pregnant. She's having a baby shower today and a lot of the people from the baby shower are coming to support the tournament over the next couple days.
I have some cousins who will be in town making a stop by the tournament.
And then my high school was just about five, ten minutes down the road, so couple people from my high school are coming as well. If you see some white hats that say Redford with a mustache on them, that's how you'll know they're the supporters.
Q. That's right, man, that's right. Look forward to that. When you were born with club foot the doctors said you never would likely never walk normal and definitely wouldn't ever run. You ended up playing lacrosse in high school, and look at you know, you're one the favorites here this week. How were you able to persevere with such a diagnosis?
FORD MARTIN: I think being around my older siblings really helped. I am the youngest of seven children, and I learned how it fail really quickly. So I would fall a lot and just had to get back up to keep up.
I remember going on walks when I was younger and I was always the slowest. Thankfully my siblings didn't take it easy on me. They were like, come on, catch up.
So I learned how to be resilient early, and I think that the mindset of golf, being resilient in tournament golf, is similar to the mindset of being a lacrosse goalie. So I hopped in goal when my brothers were practicing in the front yard because that's the only way I could play with them.
The mindset of a lacrosse goalie is you're going to know you're going to get scored on, but be able to reset for the next shot. So you have to reset quickly and be ready for the next one. The more competition and competitive golf I played I've realize how similar that is to golf, so try to bring that mindset a little bit to golf. Don't get too high, too low, ready for the next one.
Q. That's right. You told me it was a goal of yours to be the first American to win this championship.
FORD MARTIN: Uh-huh.
Q. What do you think you have to do to complete that goal, and is it something you think you can do?
FORD MARTIN: I definitely think I can do it. I think your goals should scare you, and there have been three Adaptive Opens so far and no American winners. I think I have a good shot to be the first one, and that's definitely a goal of mine this week.
I've got to play well obviously. There are a lot of talented players out there and some things have got to come together, but I feel prepared. I've been practicing a lot, putting in the work, so I don't have any anxiety about being under-prepared which I think I did last year.
I'm in a good spot with my game, and just going to go out there and see how low I can go and see where the cards end up at the end of the three days.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much for the time, Ford. Good luck this week. We'll see you around.
FORD MARTIN: Thanks, Jonathan.
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