WASHINGTON — Disabled golfer Casey Martin may use a cart to ride in tournaments, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, saying federal law requires a leveling of the playing field for the handicapped, even in pro sports.

        The decision means the PGA Tour must make allowances for Martin, whose degenerative leg ailment makes it almost impossible to walk an 18-hole course.

        The PGA Tour fought Martin for years, saying all pro golfers must walk because uniform rules are essential for the integrity of the sport. Accommodating Martin with a golf cart will not fundamentally change the game, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for a 7-2 majority.

        “What it can be said to do, on the other hand, is to allow Martin the chance to qualify for and compete in the athletic events (the PGA Tour) offers to those members of the public who have the skill and desire to enter,” Stevens wrote.

        “I think in the future this opens some doors for people,” Martin told reporters.

        While the ruling may not affect other golfers right away, he said he hopes it will benefit disabled athletes in general.

        “An institution like the PGA Tour ... before they just automatically knock down someone's desire for accommodation, they might have to think twice,” he said.

        “It's been three and a half years of waiting, and I finally got the answer that I really wanted,” Martin said.

        The Supreme Court's ruling will not produce any immediate changes for the elite-level PGA Tour because Martin is not playing well enough to qualify for those events. He currently plays on the Buy.com Tour, a minor league of sorts to the PGA, where PGA Tour rules also apply.

        Stevens, an avid golfer, said the walking requirement is “at best peripheral” to PGA Tour events. And in any case, Stevens wrote, if the purpose of walking is to tax golfers' stamina, Martin's disability does that for him.

        Martin, 28, suffers from Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, a rare circulatory disorder that has left him with a withered right leg. He eventually might face amputation.

        Martin said he hopes the court victory will give his game a boost.

        “Shoot, I can use all the help I can get right now. It would be my wish that I can get past this,” and play well enough to rejoin the PGA Tour, Martin said.

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