Miguel Angel Martín

Miguel Angel Martín came back from a poor 1995 when he nearly lost his card (he finished 115th on the Order of Merit) to end the year 17th in the money list. This not only made him the leading Spaniard (Miguel Angel Jimenez was 19th, Diego Borrego 30th and Ballesteros 69th) but also was his own best finish since he joined the tour full-time in 1983. From 1984 to 1992 (inclusive) Martín was never out of the top 100 in the money list (his previous best year being 23rd in 1990) but in 1993 he slipped to 120th before finishing 44th in 1994. Victory in the 1986 Spanish professionals’ closed championship and a debut European Tour win in the 1992 Peugeot French Open marked him as one of Spain’s most promising tour regulars and so it was no surprise when he withstood the pressure of a top international field to triumph in the Heineken Classic in January 1997. A recurring wrist injury kept him out of most of the 1998 season but he returned in 1999 to win the Moroccan Open and finish 38th in the money list.
A share of fourth place in the BMW International Open enabled him to finish 2000 in 52nd place on the final money list, but the high point of his season came in the Dunhill Cup, when his extraordinary putt on the 18th at St Andrews enabled Spain (also represented by Miguel Angel Jimenez and José María Olazabal) to defend the trophy it had won for the first time in 1999.
Like so many of his Spanish colleagues in 2001, he lost his card for 2002.
Away from Europe, he has the distinction of being one of the few players ever to have broken 60 in a tournament - having carded 59 in the 1987 South Argentine Open.