Fort Worth couple balances life on LPGA, PGA tours
IRVING — Being married to a professional golfer can be tough, especially if your husband also is a touring pro.
For Fort Worth couple Gerina and Martin Piller, time together is dictated by their complex schedules.
Take last week for instance. Gerina was playing an LPGA event in San Francisco while Martin competed in the Valero Texas Open.
But despite the distance separating them, the couple managed to sync their games.
Gerina finished T3 at the Swinging Skirts and Martin finished T4 in San Antonio. Combined payday: $350,643.
Later, the Piller ships passed in the night — at DFW International Airport.
Gerina took the redeye back home to play in this week’s Volunteers of America Texas Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club. Martin was departing for New Orleans to play in the Zurich Classic.
“We’ll give a little hug and kiss and there he goes,” Gerina told reporters in San Francisco. “It’s just something we love to do, and we’re in a situation that we’re playing on the top tours in the world, so it’s pretty cool.”
Gerina enters the Shootout with the momentum from three straight top-six finishes. With four total top-10s this season, she ranks 11th on the money list and 20th in the Rolex Rankings.
Martin had made only four PGA Tour starts since January with his previous best finish a T24 at the CareerBuilder Challenge.
But after rounds of 70-68-71 in San Antonio, Martin found himself in the lead on Sunday after making his fourth birdie on No. 12.
Gerina watched her husband on TV and then scrambled to keep track of him as she prepared for the final round.
“I got a few updates,” she said. “One of my cousins was watching so she was kind of giving me an update of what was going on. It’s actually kind of cool because it kind of took my mind off of my game and what I had to do. I was kind of more worried about him than I was my own game.”
Martin’s lead evaporated with a double-bogey on the next hole. He made pars the rest of the way, finishing three strokes behind winner Charley Hoffman.
Martin then set his sights on Gerina, who was battling 30-40 mph winds in San Francisco. She had worked her way into contention with rounds of 70-69-72.
“Watching her is easy,” Martin told the San Antonio Express-News. “She’s one of the best players in the world and she’s proven herself out there.”
After shooting 34 on the front nine, Gerina was within one shot of the lead.
But her chances were also derailed by a doublebogey, on No. 11, and then a bogey on 13. She finished five strokes back of champion Haru Nomura of Japan.
The last time the Pillers contended for titles the same week, Martin won the News Sentinel Open in Knoxville, Tenn.
He fired a final-round 63. Gerina entered the final round of the LPGA Championship tied for fifth, five shots back. She shot 75 on Sunday to finish T13.
“It was a very emotional win for us, just because I know how hard he’s worked to get back,” Gerina said. “It didn’t guarantee his PGA Tour card, but it just gave him a place to play for the next couple years, so that was really special.”
Martin has won five times on the Web.com Tour, including twice last season, but Sunday was his first top-10 in 35 starts on the PGA Tour. He has pocketed a combined $1,551,977 on both tours.
Gerina has posted 26 top-10s, pushing her career earnings to $2,431,157.
The Pillers are both still searching for their first victory on golf ’s biggest stages.
“I play with him all the time, and I know he’s a great player,” Gerina said. “It doesn’t surprise me when he’s out there striping drives and hitting it close and making putts.”