The Star of the Champions Tour: Tom Lehman
The star of this season’s Champions Tour is a former British Open Champion, and perhaps one of the greatest golfers of the last decade. His domination on the Champions Tour is complete. He has the lowest scoring average, an absolutely stunning 67.67. Out
of the five events this season he has won two, finished runner up in another. His closest competitor on the Charles Schwab Cup standings is trailing him by a whopping 134 points. The golfer is former World No.1, Tom Lehman.
Lehman was born in Minnesota, which isn’t exactly a golf state. Although he was the third string quarterback in the local football team, the game he was really good at was golf. He played golf throughout his high school and garnered enough attention to receive
an admission offer from the University of Minnesota where he started playing amateur golf.
It was then that Lehman first seriously considered turning pro. He started tour school in 1982 with the intent of getting a PGA Tour card. Even though he made it on his first try his first year yielded nothing special and subsequently he lost his card for
1983, and then later 1984 and 1985. After several disappointments, Lehman turned away from professional golf in frustration and joined the Wood Ranch Golf Club as a club pro.
After getting married to his long time girlfriend Melissa in 1987, Lehman decided to give the U.S Open a shot that year. Despite playing better golf than he had in years, he missed the cut by just one stroke. However, he regained some of his confidence and
decided to give professional golf another try.
After failing again to qualify for the PGA Tour, he travelled oversees to play in Asia and South Africa. In 1990 he narrowly missed qualifying for the Tour again, this however, proved to be a blessing in disguise. He topped the second tier Ben Hogan Tour’s
money list in 1991 and earned himself the Ben Hogan Player of the Year Award. Along with it came the long awaited exemption, which meant he could finally play on the PGA Tour again.
His first year back on the Tour was moderately successful; he managed to finish 24th on the Order of Merit list and placed 6th at the U.S Open. In the 1993 Masters he first gained some fame when he led the round on the first day along
with Jack Nicklaus and Corey Pavin. He would eventually finish third with Bernhard Langer winning the major. Lehman would fare even better the following year. He had a one stroke lead going into the final round of the 1994 Masters but lost it to Jose Maria
Olazabal. His first win also came in the same year when he won the Memorial Tournament.
In 1995 he finished third at the U.S Open despite holding the lead, which led many people to question whether he had it in him to actually win after starting strong. He silenced all his detractors by winning the 1996 Open Championship, his only major win
to date. The major win earned him the PGA Tour Player of the Year, the Byron Nelson Award and the Vardon Trophy.
In 2009 Lehman joined the Champions Tour and won his debut tournament, the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in which he partnered with Bernhard Langer. In 2010 he won the senior major, the Senior PGA Championship after defeating Fred Couples and David Frost
in a playoff.
With two more wins coming in 2011, Lehman is all set to clinch the Charles Schwab Trophy if he continues in his phenomenal form.
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