Melissa Linda "Mo" Martin (born October 8, 1982) is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Her sole win on the tour was a major championship, the Women's British Open in 2014.
College career Martin played college golf all four years at UCLA, walking-on as a freshman. She was the Bruins' Most Valuable Player in 2002, earned UCLA academic honors, and was also a three-time Pac-10 Academic Honorable Mention selection. She graduated in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
Professional career Martin turned professional in 2005, and joined the Futures Tour on January 23, 2006. She played in the 2007 U.S. Women's Open and missed the cut. Martin was the 2010 recipient of the Futures Tour's Heather Wilbur Spirit Award, presented annually to the player who "best exemplifies dedication, courage, perseverance, love of the game and spirit toward achieving goals as a professional golfer." The annual recipient is nominated by her peers on the tour. In 2011, with 11 top-10 finishes and 1 victory, she earned full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for the 2012 season.
Martin won the Women's British Open in 2014, her first major championship and also her first LPGA Tour title. She led after 36 holes, but a 77 (+5) on Saturday dropped her three strokes back. An eagle at the final hole on Sunday gave her the victory, one stroke ahead of runners-up Shanshan Feng and Suzann Pettersen. It was Martin's first eagle of the 2014 season and the win moved her from 99 to 26 in the women's world rankings. Her previous best finish in a major was a tie for 29th at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Personal Born in Pasadena, California, Martin attended Chandler School. Her father, Allen Martin, was a defense attorney and taught her to play golf as a child, using Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. Allen died of a heart attack when Mo was in college at age 20, and she then established a relationship with her paternal grandfather, Lincoln Martin, who was over 90 years old. Before Allen's death, Mo and Lincoln had minimal interaction, due to a strained father-son relationship. During her early years as a professional on the Futures Tour, Lincoln was her chief supporter and mentor. He died in March 2014 at age 102, about four months before she won her major title in England.
Her nickname "Mo" was given to her by her father, in reference to the U.S.S. Missouri, a famous battleship of World War II that served the U.S. Navy into the 1990s.
She resides in Naples, Florida.
Professional wins (4) LPGA Tour wins (1) LegendMajor championships (1)Other LPGA Tour events (0)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1Jul 13, 2014Ricoh Women's British Open69-69-77-72=287−11 stroke Shanshan Feng Suzann Pettersen Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
Futures Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMarginof victoryRunner-up1May 6, 2007El Paso Golf Classic69-71-67=207−91 stroke Caroline Larsson2Jul 27, 2008USI Championship71-66-67=204 −124 strokes Gerina Mendoza3Aug 14, 2011Eagle Classic70-67-66=203−133 strokes Cara Freeman
Major championships Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up 2014 Women's British Open 3 shot deficit −1 (69-69-77-72=287) 1 stroke Shanshan Feng, Suzann Pettersen
Results timeline Results not in chronological order before 2019. Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020Chevron ChampionshipT70T66T29T51T14T63CUTT21U.S. Women's OpenCUTCUTT42CUTT35T21CUTCUTWomen's PGA ChampionshipT30T37T17T26T17CUTT33The Evian Championship ^ T57CUTCUTT26T2Women's British Open57CUT1CUTT2T49T39 Tournament 2021 2022Chevron ChampionshipU.S. Women's OpenWomen's PGA ChampionshipCUTCUTThe Evian Championship ^Women's British OpenCUTT51 ^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeChevron Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 7U.S. Women's Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 3Women's PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 6The Evian Championship 0 1 0 1 1 1 5 3Women's British Open 1 1 0 2 2 2 9 6Totals 1 2 0 3 3 8 39 25 Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (three times) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)
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