The future of Casey Martin’s plea to use a golf cart on the PGA Tour is now in the hands of the U.S. District Court in Oregon.

Martin has Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, a rare circulatory ailment that makes it painful for him to walk. Because of the disease, he suffers from varicose veins and atrophied muscles in his right leg, which has shrunk to half the size of his left leg.

He is suing the tour under the Americans with Disabilities Act because it does not allow the use of carts.

The PGA claims that Martin would get an unfair advantage from riding.

This position is sure to be unpopular by society’s standards, as admitted by PGA commissioner Tim Finchem: “From a public opinion standpoint, it’s a loser.”

But the question here isn’t if Casey Martin should be able to use a golf cart. Instead, this fight is about the legal system’s jurisdiction in making decisions for the PGA.

The decision on golf carts is the PGA’s decision and theirs alone. They have the right to determine the rules for their game, and while that ruling might not be popular with those outside the game, it is still their call.

As their lawyer said, “The real issue here is whether the PGA Tour can establish the rules for its competitions.”

Giving power to the courts in this issue could pave the way for other athletics-related issues to be decided in our legal system.

For example, how many sports fans would like to see pro-basketball player Latrell Sprewell sue to be reinstated in the NBA after choking and threatening his coach?

If the courts decide to let Martin have his cart, the governing bodies of the NFL, NBA, PGA, LPGA, WNBA, NHL, Major League Baseball — and all their rules — will come under the intense scrutiny of judicial review.

And these are areas where our magistrates don’t need to waste their time — especially on a rule that isn’t “discriminatory,” as some have claimed.

In fact, it is a general, broadly constructed law intended for everyone on the tour.

If it was discriminatory, it would prohibit specific groups of people from playing golf, but it doesn’t.

The ban on African Americans in baseball, which lasted until Jackie Robinson’s breakthrough in 1947, was discriminatory, since it was based on a specific, arbitrary characteristic.

But the PGA’s mandate for walking is different — it just sets a standard, a level of achievement, one that every aspiring golfer must adhere to.

Casey Martin’s story of enduring constant agony while walking 36 holes in a college tournament plays on our sympathies and pushes us to oppose an “unfair” rule.

But the PGA isn’t saying that Casey Martin can’t play golf. He can play, but he has to walk, just like everyone else.