PARKER — Winning never gets old, not even for a professional senior golfer.
Sitting in the interview room behind an Alfred S. Bourne Trophy that stands as tall as a first-grader, Tom Lehman sounded like a wide-eyed child Sunday after claiming the 71st Senior PGA Championship at Colorado Golf Club. Lehman acted more excited about receiving the hardware than the $360,000 winner’s check.
“The last two tournaments I’ve won, the Legends of Golf and the Argentina Masters, I didn’t get a trophy,” Lehman said with a grin. “The check is nice. But give me the trophy. Even my kid, he plays peewee football, he gets a trophy. Give me a trophy.”
Defeating Fred Couples and David Frost on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, Lehman had an extra and special reason to celebrate. After almost 14 years, with more near-misses and heartbreaks than most golfers — or anyone — could endure, one of the sport’s most likable figures finally earned his second major championship.
While the Senior PGA Championship will never rank with his 1996 British Open title, as Lehman likes to say, “a major is a major.”
This was the first individual title on the Champions Tour for Lehman, 51, who also continues to play on the PGA Tour. He teamed with Bernhard Langer to win the 2009 Legends of Golf on the senior tour.
It doesn’t seem all that long ago when Lehman saw so many opportunities slip away. In 1997, he became the first player since Bobby Jones to lead after three rounds in three straight U.S. Opens. The following year, Lehman recorded his fourth straight top-five finish in that championship. He also came close in the Masters, with a runner-up finish in 1994.
“The thing about sports is, you just simply can’t sit there and say, like, ‘Well, boy, I’m unlucky,’ ” Lehman said when asked about the disappointments. “I’ve always thought in terms of, if I was just a little bit better . . .”
This time Lehman closed it out and, on the playoff hole, he was more than a little bit better. The challenging, 445-yard par-4 18th was used for the first playoff hole, and while Couples and Frost pulled their drives left of the fairway and hell’s half-acre, Lehman belted his tee shot right down the middle.
He didn’t even need to take a deep breath.
“The whole day I just felt very, very focused and calm,” Lehman said.
Couples’ drive found the middle of a bush, and he had to take a penalty drop for an unplayable lie. Frost went from rough to rougher. Both made double-bogey 6. Meanwhile, Lehman smoothed a 132-yard pitching wedge to the green and could have still won if he had three-putted from 15 feet. He came within an inch of a birdie.
The trio had completed the regulation 72 holes in 7-under-par 281.
“Tom obviously finished it off,” Frost said.
Perhaps it was fitting that Lehman would win here in a playoff. In the final International at Castle Pines, in 2006, Lehman lost on the first hole of a playoff to Dean Wilson. Even so, Lehman said he has fond memories of playing in Colorado. He should. The Minnesota native and Scottsdale, Ariz., resident brought home a total of almost $1 million from 11 visits to Castle Pines. Also, Lehman helped in the design of the Raven at Three Peaks golf course in Silverthorne, so he is no stranger to this state.
While some players might have griped about the construction of the clubhouse not being completed, Lehman said he had good vibes about this championship.
“I loved this course from the minute I laid my eyes on it,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed playing (in Colorado). I’m one of those guys who are really upset that The International is no longer here. It seemed like this mountain air has never confused me.”
Nor the wind. Lehman said he thought he had an advantage Sunday when the morning breezes turned brisk in the afternoon. Lehman told his caddie, “Let’s just play 12 really good holes . . . and give ourselves a chance to win,” he recalled. “I didn’t do anything exceptional. But I didn’t make any mistakes and let those who were up ahead fall back.”
Beginning the day as the co-leader along with Jay Don Blake at 6-under, Lehman slipped a couple of strokes back of the pack after bogeys on Nos. 2, 3 and 5. From there, Lehman stayed steady and didn’t flinch when Couples made back-to-back eagles with two putts inside 6 feet on the consecutive par-5s, Nos. 15 and 16. Lehman made birdies on those two holes.
“Those are really crucial,” he said of the back-nine par-5s. “I was just trying to keep pace.”
And in the end, that proved good enough. He’ll need to find some room in his trophy case.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
The way it finished
After wayward drives by Fred Couples and David Frost, the three- man playoff was all Tom Lehman:
Lehman: Hit his drive right down the middle and was out 132 yards; second shot was to about 15 feet from hole; first putt was half a rotation from going in; tapped in for a 4.
Frost: Drove left into bunker; pulled second shot left of green into bush; third shot went through the green; chipped on and two-putted for a 6.
Couples: Drove left of bunkers into tall grass and took unplayable lie; third shot was short of green; chipped on and two-putted for a 6.
Bests
Way to gain ground:
As tournament officials had hoped, the back-to-back par-5s on the back nine provided some excitement on the final day. Fred Couples gained four strokes with eagles on Nos. 15 and 16, hitting his second shots within 6 feet on both holes.
Giving back:
Another eagle that appeared to turn the tournament was by Jay Don Blake, right, hitting his second shot to within 8 feet on the par-5 No. 7. It took him to 7-under, but he gave it back with a double bogey on the next hole and fell out of contention on the back nine.
Local hero:
Gary Hallberg of Castle Rock was the top local finisher, ending in a tie for 36th place at 6-over. David Krause, The Denver Post; John Leyba photo, The Denver Post
Worsts
Going left spoils playoff:
The excitement of the three-man playoff fizzled when Fred Couples and David Frost hit their tee shots left on the first extra hole.
Pleading the fifth:
For the week, the 477-yard No. 5 was the toughest hole statistically, and Sunday was no exception. There were no birdies Sunday on the long par-4, the only time this week a hole blanked the field. For the tournament, the fifth hole gave up just 22 birdies.
A price on putting:
Nick Price, who was fifth, played consistently from fairway to green but couldn’t finish. He tied for 42nd in putting (30.8 per round). “If I had to say one word, it’s putting. . . . I’m really disappointed with the way I putted,” he said. David Krause, The Denver Post
Hole of the day
445-yard, par-4 18th.
The uphill hole had a right-to-left wind Sunday that brought two in the three-man playoff to their knees. Fred Couples yanked his drive to the left and had to take a drop. David Frost went left off the box into a bunker and struggled. Tom Lehman went straight down the middle for the victory.
David Krause, The Denver Post
Sunday’s scores
x-Tom Lehman, $360,000 68-71-71-71—281
David Frost, $176,000 72-77-65-67—281
Fred Couples, $176,000 69-68-75-69—281
Mark O’Meara, $96,000 72-73-67-71—283
Nick Price, $76,000 70-71-73-70—284
Larry Mize, $64,000 73-72-70-70—285
Bill Glasson, $64,000 69-75-70-71—285
Robin Freeman, $54,000 66-75-75-70—286
Andrew Oldcorn, $54,000 73-75-67-71—286
Jay Don Blake, $54,000 71-69-70-76—286
Peter Senior, $40,750 74-70-73-70—287
Michael Allen, $40,750 71-72-71-73—287
Chip Beck, $40,750 71-71-71-74—287
Chien Soon Lu, $40,750 70-70-73-74—287
Loren Roberts, $30,333 77-70-70-71—288
Olin Browne, $30,333 73-73-70-72—288
Mike Goodes, $30,333 71-71-70-76—288
Tom Watson, $24,000 73-76-72-68—289
Boonchu Ruangkit, $24,000 73-73-71-72—289
Eduardo Romero, $24,000 73-72-71-73—289
Jeff Sluman, $19,500 77-74-69-70—290
Dan Forsman, $19,500 70-74-69-77—290
Don Pooley, $15,583 74-76-72-69—291
Russ Cochran, $15,583 73-72-74-72—291
Bernhard Langer, $15,583 66-75-75-75—291
Fred Funk, $15,583 72-70-73-76—291
Jay Haas, $15,583 73-73-70-75—291
Brad Bryant, $15,583 68-80-67-76—291
Gene Jones, $12,000 76-72-73-71—292
Joe Ozaki, $12,000 74-72-74-72—292
Lindy Miller, $12,000 71-75-74-72—292
Tom Kite, $12,000 69-69-79-75—292
Tim Simpson, $12,000 76-70-72-74—292
Mike Reid, $10,250 79-72-71-71—293
Bob Tway, $10,250 77-73-71-72—293
Gary Hallberg, $8,620 71-75-76-72—294
John Ross, $8,620 75-76-72-71—294
John Cook, $8,620 78-72-73-71—294
David Eger, $8,620 79-71-73-71—294
Chris Starkjohann, $8,620 71-77-77-69—294
Des Smyth, $7,050 74-72-74-75—295
Nick Job, $7,050 72-78-73-72—295
Scott Simpson, $7,050 71-72-74-78—295
Morris Hatalsky, $7,050 78-73-74-70—295
Ben Crenshaw, $5,700 72-75-74-75—296
James Blair III, $5,700 74-72-74-76—296
Bob Gilder, $5,700 73-77-71-75—296
Jim Rutledge, $5,700 76-72-75-73—296
Angel Franco, $5,700 74-74-76-72—296
Keith Clearwater, $4,538 75-76-72-74—297
Bruce Vaughan, $4,538 73-77-73-74—297
Larry Nelson, $4,538 77-72-75-73—297
David Peoples, $4,538 75-73-76-73—297
Ronnie Black, $4,275 77-72-72-77—298
Bobby Clampett, $4,275 75-74-76-73—298
Gil Morgan, $4,100 76-74-73-76—299
Bill Loeffler, $4,100 69-82-69-79—299
Sam Torrance, $4,100 78-72-73-76—299
Mark James, $4,100 78-71-70-80—299
Chris Williams, $4,100 73-74-76-76—299
Tommy Armour III, $3,913 78-73-71-78—300
Bobby Wadkins, $3,913 76-74-74-76—300
Trevor Dodds, $3,913 75-76-75-74—300
Katsuyoshi Tomori, $3,913 77-72-78-73—300
Hale Irwin, $3,813 76-74-74-77—301
Jim Woodward, $3,813 80-71-75-75—301
Jim Roy, $3,813 74-76-76-75—301
Bruce Fleisher, $3,813 73-77-77-74—301
Roger Chapman, $3,688 76-74-73-79—302
Bruce Summerhays, $3,688 74-74-77-77—302
Tom Wargo, $3,688 74-72-79-77—302
Bob Boyd, $3,688 73-72-81-76—302
Ron Vlosich, $3,688 75-76-77-74—302
Bob Cameron, $3,688 76-74-78-74—302
Dave Rummells, $3,588 71-77-78-77—303
Bill Britton, $3,588 75-76-76-76—303
Mike Harwood, $3,538 75-76-75-79—305
Mike San Filippo, $3,538 77-73-79-76—305
Jodie Mudd, $3,500 76-73-81-77—307
Dick Mast, $3,475 73-78-79-83—313
Keith Fergus 72-75-74—WD
x-won on first playoff hole
