Lehman ready to take step to the "other" side

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-04-22

Tom Lehman is many things to many people, including accomplished golfer, major championship winner, husband, father, man of great faith and great compassion. This week he’ll add something else to that impressive list of attributes: member of the Champions Tour.

He turned 50 in March which, in my circle of friends, gives the birthday boy a free pass to the Gold Tees. In some ways, that’s what’s happening for the Alexandria, Minnesota native and Scottsdale, Arizona resident.

There are those in golf who refer to the Champions circuit as golf’s “mulligan,” giving players – successful or just average on the PGA Tour – a second chance at fame and cash. And Lehman has heard it all already from those already on that Tour.

“You get the same song and dance from everybody, a bunch of old guys that can't play anymore and just take it easy on us,” Lehman said with a smile during a Wednesday teleconference prior to this week’s Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. “It's like, I know better. That's like being set up on the first tee, giving me two and two and the guy shots 66.

“I find it very, very enjoyable to kind of hear the song and dance, because these guys, they are having fun, but they are still competitive and can really play and they can still make putts and they know how to win. It's a set up.”

Considering, however, that he had a very good chance to win the Transitions Championship and then played well at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Verizon Heritage last week, there is some basis to the feeling that Lehman might become an ATM machine on the Champions Tour.

“Well, it was gratifying (to contend) for the biggest reason that I've been struggling so much with my game after missing five months because of an injury (tendonitis in his right elbow),” Lehman said. “I didn't play at all from August until the end of January, so my game was in really, really bad shape starting the year, and I've been working very hard at it. So it was nice to see the hard work start to pay off in Tampa to the point where I had a chance to win. I really had a great chance to win obviously.

“I think all in all, you know, the work I'm putting into my game is the right kind of work in the right direction and my game is going the right direction, and I feel like it's on the upswing. So it's all very encouraging.”

In the mid-to-late ‘90s, Lehman was a dominant player. He was finished in the top 5 of the U.S. Open (3rd, T2, 3, T5) from 1995-1998. In 1995, ’96 and ’97, he was the 54-hole leader in the Open, but didn’t win any of those. His major championship victory came in the 1996 British Open.

Lehman said he’ll play about 10 events on the Champions Tour the rest of the year, in addition to a total of 15 on the PGA Tour and then become much more of a regular next year with the above-50 boys.

Lehman opened his remarks by saying how glad he was to finally be here. He’ll be paired with long-time friend, Bernhard Langer, in this week’s team event, a nice way to start in his mind.

“I guess that's one of the reasons why I'm so glad to be out here is there's so many great people in golf. Tom Watson, for example; I competed against him and always respected his golf game. We went on a USO trip to Iraq about a year and a half ago together with a few other guys, and so I got to know him on a more personal level there. So I just have so much respect for him and for so many others, both as professionals and as eople, and it's nice to be a part of this group."

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About Mike...
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf. He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com. Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August. The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1250/show?showId=insidepghgolf - Listen to Mike Here!.

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