The Pillers: Martin and Gerina – Golf’s Ultimate Power Couple

Martin & Gerina Piller have the key to balancing 2 golf careers – The Pillers do a lot of sharing and traveling.

The Pillers are pro golf’s storybook power couple. They met in 2009 when a Fellowship of Christian Athletes chaplain recruited them to play a round with a NASCAR pit crew team. Now that’s the basis for romance on the links! For some it probably wouldn’t have worked out – not a lot of glamor and glitter involved. For the Pillers, it was a perfect fit.

Pro golfers live a fairly crazy life and some of the more public pro golfer break-ups attest to the strain that a pro golf career puts on a marriage. When they met neither Martin Piller nor Gerina Mendoza was looking for romance.  Martin was looking for an invite to play at Lakewood – one of Dallas’s best golf courses and Gerina was a member. There have been worse motives for asking for a girl’s phone number.

They played some golf and found out that they liked hanging out with each other. They didn’t realize they attended the same Dallas church, at least not initially. Their courtship unfolded, between His and Hers tournaments. Martin suggested they listen to a podcast series about Christian romance drawn from the Song of Solomon.

"“That just made me melt,” Gerina recalled. “That was really cool. I just knew I wanted to marry this guy.”"

When the Pillers married in 2011 and began a dual-career life, Martin looked to be a rising star on the PGA TOUR and Gerina on the LPGA Tour. When their schedules allowed, they followed each other from behind the ropes.

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In the 2012 season Gerina started at 23 events, made 17 cuts, and recorded two top-10 finishes, at the Wegman’s LPGA Championship and and the Kingsmill. But Martin’s career seemed stalled. He’d lost his PGA TOUR card and was playing on the Web.com Tour. He started at 20 events, made 7 cuts, and his best finish, T12, came twice, at the Stadion Classic and again at the United Leasing Chamionship. It was quite a honeymoon year!

Martin’s career spiraled downward and Gerina’s plowed forward. In 2013 he started in 18 Web.com events and made 7 cuts. His best finish, a T11, came at the WNB Golf Classic. Gerina made the cut in 23 or the 26 events she entered, recorded 8 top-10 finishes, and played for Team USA in the Solheim Cup.  Martin brought home about $32K in winnings and Gerina topped $500K.

Martin’s self-confidence plummeted.  He says he was afraid he couldn’t play golf any more.

"“My short game literally disappeared. . .I started getting afraid of chunking it, so you thin it. Then I was afraid of thinning it, so I chunked it. I wondered if I would ever be able to chip or pitch again. It was a mental thing, and if you can’t chip or pitch, you can’t play.”"

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He was failing to qualify and he couldn’t chip. He hit the road with Gerina and he practiced, and practiced, and practiced. Things turned around. He found his short game. He started playing the weekend. Then, while Gerina was playing the Wegman’s LPGA Championship Martin converted a lead to victory at the News Sentinel Open.

Cristie Kerr somehow learned about Martin’s win and told Gerina about it in the middle of her final round. Gerina’s reaction says much about the nature of the Piller’s marriage.

"“I started crying, and it’s just been – it’s just been awesome. Words cannot describe – I just can’t wait to talk to him. Now I have to buy him a new truck, because I told him before the year, I said, if you win a tournament and you get back on the PGA TOUR, I’ll buy you a new truck.”"

That promise must have had some power because Martin Piller found his game in 2015. He won the Albertsons Boise Open and the Digital Allay Open and was set for the Web.com Tour Championship and another shot at the PGA TOUR.

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With his PGA TOUR card secured for the 2015-16 wrap-around season, Martin was also cleared to go to Germany with Gerina for the 2015 Solheim Cup.

Martin Piller’s trip was just another moment in the Pillers’ marriage when one of them was right there supporting the other. In this case it was a very public moment with a dramatic culmination followed by an intensely private moment of caring that was carried out in the most public of places.

Martin watched from behind the ropes as Gerina made the critical clutch putt that kept alive the Americans’ hope of regaining the Solheim Cup. Then he walked across the green, stood by while she received a wave of hugs and high-fives from her teammates and Captain Juli Inkster, and then enfolded her in his arms. Her triumph was also his as they shared that moment on the 18th green at St Leon-Rot.

Then they reversed roles. Gerina was behind the ropes while Martin competed in the Web.com Tour Championship. They celebrated again. Then she was off to Kuala Lumpur and the Sime Darby LPGA.

Gerina explained to ESPN’s Ben Fields how the Pillers’ balancing act works from her side of the equation:

"“I don’t worry too much about his game . . . He had a rough couple of years, but I never had any doubts about what he was going to do. His mental game is phenomenal.”"

That’s the way it is for a couple who share the life of pro golfers. The Pillers study their separate schedules and find the points where they can be there behind the ropes for each other, but even when they’re both playing they follow each other’s game and talk often.

What’s it like at home? If their new joint commercial for Barbasol/Pure Silk is an accurate indicator, the Pillers enjoy their times together at home.

Last week Martin Piller played golf in San Antonio at the Valero Texas Open while Gerina Piller played golf in San Francisco at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. The Pillers live in Ft Worth. Martin finished his final round before Gerina finished hers  – they both finished on the front page of the board – and he was following her progress as he drove home. He wanted to be at DFW to pick her up when she got home on the red eye.

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This week Gerina is playing close to home. She’s teeing it up in Irving, TX at the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout. Martin is playing the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. At least the Pillers are in the same time zone!