Regions Tradition: Tom Lehman takes another senior’s major championship
Tom Lehman carded a four-under par 68 in the final round of the Champions Tour’s Regions Tradition, to take a two-stroke victory over Bernhard Langer and Chien Soon Lu on Sunday, June 10, 2012.
With the victory, he became the only player in the last six years to repeat a win in a major championship event.
He got off to a slow start and carded a bogey on the second hole at the Shoal Creek in Alabama. However, he bounced back strongly with a birdie on the very next hole that he played.
Thereafter, he carded five more birdies to go five-under for the round prior to the bogey on the 17th hole. Yet, the bogey did not affect his cause because Langer and Lu were two behind on the leaderboard.
Overall, it was an amazing performance given by Lehman, considering the fact that the persistent rain hit the course on the final day.
"“It was a good day. It was a good week. To win makes it that much more special," said Lehman, the first person to repeat in a senior major championship since Allen Doyle won the U.S. Senior Open in 2005 and 2006.
“But I don't like playing in the rain, I never have. ...To me it kind of makes me really uncomfortable. I feel like I lose rhythm of my swing”.
“So today was a real test of perseverance ... don't get too aggressive, just play smart shots, shots that I know I can hit and make a par, make another par, maybe sneak a birdie in here and there”.
The British Open champion looked really happy to hoist the trophy for the second time and said that he wants to repeat the same performance in the future too.
In the meantime, the captain of the United States Team for the Presidents Cup, Fred Couples, recorded the best round of the day, a seven-under par 65, and confirmed the fourth spot on the leaderboard. His overall score for the tournament was a 10-under par
278.
Russ Cochran, Bill Glasson and Brad Bryant were a stroke back to share the fifth position.
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