As he gets ready for the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco this week, Casey Martin feels a lot like it's 1998 again.

That's the last time Martin played in the event, the last time it was held at this venue.

And like last time, he'll be the only one of the 156 players using a cart, needed because of a birth defect in his right leg that makes it hard to get around 18 holes. It's an exception to the rules he was granted under the Americans With Disabilities Act, but only after a legal battle with the PGA.

"I don't like to be the center of controversy, and it kind of followed me for a long time there," he said of his previous U.S. Open appearance and his subsequent time on the PGA Tour.

This year, there doesn't seem to be any controversy over the cart, but Martin said the pain in the leg, damaged by a congenital circulatory disorder known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, remains and he's used that to his advantage.

"It helps me sometimes to concentrate because I realize it's only one thing I can do and just try to block out my leg," he said in an interview with CNN Sports.

That Martin should be playing a second U.S. Open at all is quite unexpected.

Just finishing his sixth season as the head golf coach at the University of Oregon, he no longer plays competitively.

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If you're a golfer aspiring to play in the nation's most prestigious golf championship, the U.S. Open, here's some tips to ensure you won't qualify:

- Take some time off from competition, say several years, before beginning the qualifying process.

- Then cut down on your practice time and hit just a few balls on the range before your final qualifier tournament.

- Concentrate on other things, such as coaching a collegiate golf team in the days leading up to the final qualifier.

Except if you're Casey Martin, a 40-year-old man with a right leg withered by a circulatory disorder who hasn't played in a pro tour event in nine years, that's just the way to go about getting into the U.S. Open.

Martin shot back-to-back 69s in two rounds Monday at the Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, Oregon, to win a sectional qualifier for this month's U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, according to the U.S. Golf Association.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Martin told The (Eugene, Oregon) Register Guard, “but I’m really grateful I’m through.”

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Japanese amateur Hideki Matsuyama loves playing the Masters.

Last year, the college student won the Silver Cup, given to the lowest-scoring amateur at Augusta.

This year, Matsuyama shot an even par 72 on Saturday, leaving him at one over par for 54 holes and giving him a six-stroke lead over his nearest competitor among the three amateurs who made the 36-hole cut.

He’s also the only Japanese player left at Augusta.

Ryo Ishikawa, the biggest name in Japanese golf, missed the cut.

Asked after his round Saturday if he’s starting to become as well-known in his home country as Ishikawa, the 20-year-old deferred.

“There nothing I can say about that,” he said. “The people who can just decide such things are in the galleries.”

Those people decided with their feet Saturday as dozens of Japanese patrons and a large media contingent followed Matsuyama for 18 holes.

Kazuki Suzuki, of Yokohama, Japan, said he flew to Augusta just to watch Matsuyama.

Nobuko Tabata, a Japanese student living in Chicago, came to the Masters with her sisters and parents, who also flew in from Japan, to see Matsuyama.

“I hope he’s going to take best amateur two years in a row,” she said. “I’ll be back following him tomorrow.”

Akinori Yokosawa, a Japanese native now living in Atlanta, said Matsuyama deserves the following, though as yet he doesn’t match Ishikawa’s star power back home.

“Ryo is cute, but as a golfer I think (Matsuyama) is better,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Matsuyama said he hoped success at Augusta this year would mean something back home, too.

He attends school in the Sendai area of Japan, which was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami more than a year ago.

“What I would like to do is do my best and play well so that I can encourage them through my play,” he said.

Saturday afternoon, he seemed well on his way to both goals: a second Silver Cup and something for his fans back home to cheer about.

Augusta, Georgia (CNN) - Ask women at Thursday's first round of the Masters Tournament whether they'd paid attention to the controversy over Augusta National's male-only members policy, and you get a quick reply.

"We were just talking about that," one woman said.

Ask them if they think change is needed, and you get divergent opinions.

"I surely believe women should play golf anytime and anywhere they want to," said Linda Hines of Birmingham, Alabama. "Equality for all, pay and golf."

Why the controversy?

IBM sponsors the tournament, and the club has always extended membership to the company's officers. But IBM's new CEO is a woman, Virginia Rometty. Critics have called on Augusta National to offer her its traditional green jacket.

But Hines, who said she loves golf, believes any change at Augusta must come from within. She said she didn't like the scene in 2003 when Martha Burk, then leader of the National Council of Women's Organizations, led protests outside of Augusta.

"The board of directors has to have an open mind," she said. "Times are a changing."

Speaking to the media Wednesday, club chairman Billy Payne didn't indicate that times would be changing at Augusta.

"All issues of membership are now and have historically been subject to the private deliberation of members," Payne said. "That statement remains accurate; it remains my statement."

Elizabeth Walters of Wilmington, North Carolina, who was at Thursday's first round with her two children and mother, was fine with that approach.

Walters said she sees no need for Augusta to open membership to women and would not let the controversy detract from the tournament.

"It's a wonderful tradition, and I'm happy to be here," she said.

She also said her husband is from Augusta, making her familiar with the area.

"I've never had anyone that I've met here who has a problem with the way things are," she said.

Her mother, Nancy Mengelt, is from Madison, Wisconsin, a liberal area where "we usually have a problem with something," she said.

But she said she had no problem with male-only Augusta National.

"I like all the traditions. I support that," she said.

Support for Augusta came from Down Under, too.

"The club should stick to tradition and not allow women to become members," said Ro Brownie, attending the Masters after flying in from Sydney, Australia.

Brownie said if IBM's Romelty isn't a golfer and doesn't want to play here, she should put a stop to the hubbub.

"She should wave it away," Brownie said.

Ashley Mohrman said she's a member of "a very old conservative club" in Massachusetts, which changed its rules to allow women to become members with their husbands. And it has recently admitted a same-sex couple, she said. But she's not troubled by the Augusta stance.

"I don't think it is a problem for most people," she said.