Martin does his clothing proud

• By Randall Mell
• Jun 14, 2012 9:29 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Casey Martin felt some unusual pressure to perform in his return to The Olympic Club Thursday at the U.S. Open.

He also has some strong feelings about the state of Tiger Woods’ game.

First, about the pressure he's feeling:

Martin, 40, now the golf coach at the University of Oregon, has a hand in picking out the many colorful uniform combinations the Oregon football team wears. Coach Chip Kelly recruited him to do so. So, in return, Kelly picked out Martin’s clothes for the U.S. Open.

Martin, who suffers from a degenerative condition that has caused withering of his right leg, opened impressively with a 74. He did so wearing a bright “electric green” shirt with white stripes.

“Chip is my fashion coordinator,” Martin said. “How did we do today? Pretty loud. You dress like this, you better play well.”

Martin, who is playing with a golf cart this week, tied for 23rd playing the U.S. Open at Olympic in '98. He played the PGA Tour in 2000.  

About Tiger’s chances:

Martin likes what he saw in Woods’ game in their practice rounds together Tuesday and Wednesday at Olympic. Martin was a teammate of Woods at Stanford. They were roommates on road trips.

“There has been a lot of talk about Tiger and his game and whether he will get it back,” Martin said. “Let me tell you, he's phenomenal. It was incredible the shots I saw the last two days from him.  Effortless. I think he's going to be better than he was.”