February 25, 2019
Palo Alto native Martin Trainer is now a PGA Tour champion.
The 27-year-old former USC standout won the Puerto Rico Open, finishing with a 5-under 67 at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club for a three-shot win over four players.
“It’s obviously incredible,” said Trainer, who birdied four of his last 10 holes to come in at 15-under 273. “I never thought that I would be able to win on the PGA Tour. I managed to do it and that’s just incredible.”
Trainer earned his PGA Tour card after winning twice on the Web.com Tour in 2018.
“There comes a certain point where the pressure is like maxed out in your brain and you just do whatever you can to make contact and hit putts forward,” Trainer said. “At the end I had no idea if my putts were going to go like four 4 feet by or 4 feet short. You just have no feel, the pressure is just overwhelming you.”
Trainer earned $540,000 along with a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and an exemption to the PGA Championship.
“I never had the luxury of making a plan, I was just trying to play as many events as I could,” Trainer said. “So now I guess that will be a little different, I’ll be able to pick and choose where I want to go and have a little more flexibility with my schedule. It’s just such a great feeling to be able to have that. I’m just trying to let it sink in.”
–NCGA Staff
