Tom Lehman

Tom Lehman's home in Arizona will be minus one of its prized possessions this week. It was taken right before Lehman and his family packed up for their trip to Scotland. Taken right off the mantel in the living room."I could see it every time I walked in the front door," Lehman said last month.Actually, Lehman took it.And Lehman hopes to bring it back when he and the family return next week.It is a claret jug. Lehman brought it home to Scottsdale after winning last year's British Open. Having recently returned it to the folks at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, Lehman would like to borrow it for another year.

Good morning --Tom Lehman --The fun and relaxing atmosphere you sought to create as U.S. Ryder Cup captain didn't appear to help.

SAN FRANCISCO -- They were supposed to have taken over the sport after winning each of the first three major championships last year. Twentysomethings named Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Justin Leonard were supposed to have made the thirtysomethings and fortysomethings and one notable fiftysomething golfer insignificant.And then something happened.The older guys rebelled.First Davis Love, a 34-year-old purist who had held onto his persimmon driver until last year, won his first major title at the PGA Championship at Winged Foot last August.

SAN FRANCISCO -- They were supposed to have taken over the sport after winning each of the first three major championships last year. Twentysomethings named Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Justin Leonard were supposed to have made the thirtysomethings and fortysomethings and one notable fiftysomething golfer insignificant.And then something happened.The older guys rebelled.First Davis Love, a 34-year-old purist who had held onto his persimmon driver until last year, won his first major title at the PGA Championship at Winged Foot last August.

Some golfers head into major championships hoping to make history. Tom Lehman goes into the 98th U.S. Open later this week at the Olympic Club in San Francisco hoping to find one place in the record books -- and avoid another.In each of the previous three years, Lehman has entered the final round of the Open with at least a share of the lead. It is a feat that has been accomplished by only one other player. The legendary Bobby Jones did it between 1928 and 1930, winning twice.Lehman has taken an 0-for at the Open.

Good morning --Tom Lehman --The fun and relaxing atmosphere you sought to create as U.S. Ryder Cup captain didn't appear to help.

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- All day long he had worked his way through hostile territory. In the company of a thoroughly dangerous man, wending through a sea of bunkers, and in an ocean of fans who screamed for his playing partner and rooted openly for his demise, Tom Lehman labored.So as he stood in the rough at the final hole of Royal Lytham and St. Annes yesterday, an 8-iron in his hand and a lifetime of hard, hard road behind him, Lehman looked like the perfect winner of this British Open.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tom Lehman will deliver a guest sermon at a church here this morning, not too far from the hallowed grounds of Augusta National. He also hopes to give another speech early this evening by the 18th green.For winning the 58th Masters.Lehman, a 35-year-old journeyman who nearly became a college golf coach during a six-year hiatus from the PGA Tour, emerged from the pack yesterday and took the lead going into today's final round.With a sparkling round of 3-under-par 69 and a three-round total of 7-under 209, Lehman leads Spain's Jose-Maria Olazabal, who also finished with a 69, by one shot.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Who is this Tom Lehman leading the Masters going into today's final round? The same one who was such a miserable failure on the PGA Tour in the mid-'80s that he took a job for a while as an assistant club pro in Simi Valley, Calif.The same one who entered the PGA's pressure-packed tour school tournament every year from 1986 to '91, trying to earn his tour playing card, and failed every year.The same one who played on every minor-league tour from South Africa to South Dakota, becoming so frustrated at his career prospects that he almost took a job as the golf coach at the University of Minnesota four years ago. He decided against it only when he found out he also had to stick around the pro shop over the winter renting out cross-country skis.

TULSA, Okla. -- This one had all the suspense of Tyson-Seldon.Tom Lehman, who had to sleep on a nine-stroke lead for two nights waiting to administer the coup de grace in the rain-delayed, season-ending $3 million Tour Championship, finished off the job with relative ease yesterday.On a foggy, soggy day at Southern Hills, Lehman, 37, drove in the finishing nail with a sledgehammer. He shot a final-round 71 for a total of 12-under-par 268 to defeat Brad Faxon (68-274) by six strokes and close out his finest season as a professional.

Some golfers head into major championships hoping to make history. Tom Lehman goes into the 98th U.S. Open later this week at the Olympic Club in San Francisco hoping to find one place in the record books -- and avoid another.In each of the previous three years, Lehman has entered the final round of the Open with at least a share of the lead. It is a feat that has been accomplished by only one other player. The legendary Bobby Jones did it between 1928 and 1930, winning twice.Lehman has taken an 0-for at the Open.

POTOMAC -- The hissing noise wasn't audible coming out of Ben Brundred's office Monday afternoon at the TPC at Avenel, but the general chairman of the Kemper Open has spent the past two days trying to put some life back into the $2 million tournament that begins today without Tiger Woods.Because of a back injury, Woods was forced to withdraw, leaving a long star-crossed event without its main attraction. Asked yesterday what it was like to take that fateful telephone call from Woods, Brundred said: "It was total deflation.

TROON, Scotland -- Their respective stars are in seemingly perfect alignment. Their swings have been retooled, their games rejuvenated. They are ready to make a run this week at Royal Troon in the 126th British Open -- ready to show just who is the best player in the world.For the better part of the past two months, they have played a high-stakes game of leapfrog at the top of the rankings.First, it was Tiger Woods overtaking Greg Norman with a victory in the Byron Nelson Classic in May.Then, it was Ernie Els pushing Woods aside with his back-to-back wins in the U.S. Open and Buick Classic.

Tom Lehman's home in Arizona will be minus one of its prized possessions this week. It was taken right before Lehman and his family packed up for their trip to Scotland. Taken right off the mantel in the living room."I could see it every time I walked in the front door," Lehman said last month.Actually, Lehman took it.And Lehman hopes to bring it back when he and the family return next week.It is a claret jug. Lehman brought it home to Scottsdale after winning last year's British Open. Having recently returned it to the folks at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, Lehman would like to borrow it for another year.

TULSA, Okla. -- This one had all the suspense of Tyson-Seldon.Tom Lehman, who had to sleep on a nine-stroke lead for two nights waiting to administer the coup de grace in the rain-delayed, season-ending $3 million Tour Championship, finished off the job with relative ease yesterday.On a foggy, soggy day at Southern Hills, Lehman, 37, drove in the finishing nail with a sledgehammer. He shot a final-round 71 for a total of 12-under-par 268 to defeat Brad Faxon (68-274) by six strokes and close out his finest season as a professional.

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- All day long he had worked his way through hostile territory. In the company of a thoroughly dangerous man, wending through a sea of bunkers, and in an ocean of fans who screamed for his playing partner and rooted openly for his demise, Tom Lehman labored.So as he stood in the rough at the final hole of Royal Lytham and St. Annes yesterday, an 8-iron in his hand and a lifetime of hard, hard road behind him, Lehman looked like the perfect winner of this British Open.

POTOMAC -- The hissing noise wasn't audible coming out of Ben Brundred's office Monday afternoon at the TPC at Avenel, but the general chairman of the Kemper Open has spent the past two days trying to put some life back into the $2 million tournament that begins today without Tiger Woods.Because of a back injury, Woods was forced to withdraw, leaving a long star-crossed event without its main attraction. Asked yesterday what it was like to take that fateful telephone call from Woods, Brundred said: "It was total deflation.

TROON, Scotland -- Their respective stars are in seemingly perfect alignment. Their swings have been retooled, their games rejuvenated. They are ready to make a run this week at Royal Troon in the 126th British Open -- ready to show just who is the best player in the world.For the better part of the past two months, they have played a high-stakes game of leapfrog at the top of the rankings.First, it was Tiger Woods overtaking Greg Norman with a victory in the Byron Nelson Classic in May.Then, it was Ernie Els pushing Woods aside with his back-to-back wins in the U.S. Open and Buick Classic.

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- An eerie sort of golf symmetry descended on the Lancashire coast yesterday and covered the British Open. Senior golfers acted their age, obscure major pretenders drifted out to the Irish Sea and the major players positioned themselves for either a Masters reprise or a Grand Slam blowout.Tom Lehman, who held the third-round lead in the 1994 Masters, shared it in the 1995 U.S. Open and held it just a month ago in the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills, is back there again.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tom Lehman will deliver a guest sermon at a church here this morning, not too far from the hallowed grounds of Augusta National. He also hopes to give another speech early this evening by the 18th green.For winning the 58th Masters.Lehman, a 35-year-old journeyman who nearly became a college golf coach during a six-year hiatus from the PGA Tour, emerged from the pack yesterday and took the lead going into today's final round.With a sparkling round of 3-under-par 69 and a three-round total of 7-under 209, Lehman leads Spain's Jose-Maria Olazabal, who also finished with a 69, by one shot.