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Martin Trainer earns first win at Puerto Rico Open

By Christopher O'Day

RIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO - FEBRUARY 24: Martin Trainer poses with the trophy after winning the Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club on February 24, 2019 in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
RIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO - FEBRUARY 24: Martin Trainer poses with the trophy after winning the Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club on February 24, 2019 in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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While everyone was focused on the WGC-Mexico this week, Martin Trainer quietly earned his first PGA victory in the event played opposite. He won the Puerto Rico Open, notching the 27 year old his first victory on tour.

Although it was the secondary event this week, Martin Trainer made a name for himself this week at the Puerto Rico Open. He earned himself a nice purse of $540,000, 300 FedEx points, and a two year exemption on the PGA Tour.

One of the few things that he didn’t earn this week was an automatic berth into the Masters, since the event was played opposite the WGC-Mexico Championship. He does earn an exemption into the PGA Championship, which has to be a nice “consolation” prize.

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Trainer formally played at University of Southern California. He made his mark last season playing on the Web.com Tour, earning two wins. The first coming in Mexico at the El Bosque Mexico Championship by Innova during March. The second came a few months later in July at the Price Cutter Charity Championship in Missouri.

Although it was the proverbial little brother of this weekend’s events, there was still a good collection of talent that Trainer had to beat in order to earn that first win. Daniel Berger and Aaron Baddeley finished tied for 2nd. The likes of Charl Schwartzel, Ben Crane, D.J. Trahan, Graeme McDowell, and Trevor Immelman were there as well.

Heading into the final day, Trainer was two shots back of Aaron Baddeley. Baddeley ended up shooting par during the fourth round, while Trainer shot a 67. Trainer was the only one within Range of Baddeley to make a strong enough move, and ended up winning the tournament by three, shooting -15.

The win at the Puerto Rico Open was Trainer’s 11th career PGA Tour start. It eclipses every other start he has quite easily, as he had never finished better than T28, which was his finish at Pebble last week. In fact, Martin Trainer had only made the cut three times this season.

His three straight rounds to finish the tourney shooting in the 60’s is easily his best stretch of his young professional career as well. He did shoot 69-68 to start the Sony Open, albeit at a par 70 course. The Puerto Rico Open was a par 72, making those rounds in the 60’s more impressive.

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To be able to get a win so early in his career is an incredible stepping stone for Martin Trainer. He has some money in his pocket, the ability to choose events to play in more than his liking, and has earned himself some entries into higher tournaments. Although the season is young, Trainer looks to be headed in the right direction.

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