Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Bittersweet memories for Lehman and Hazeltine majors
PGA notebook
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
CHASKA, Minn. — A major championship returns to Hazeltine National Golf Club for the first time since the 1991 U.S. Open, which must seem a lot longer to Tom Lehman.
He was struggling to earn a living on the Hogan Tour (now Buy.com Tour), and desperately wanted to qualify for the U.S. Open in his home state. He made it through 18 holes of local qualifying, then faced a 36-hole final stage.
The Hogan Tour was in Elizabethtown, Ken., the week before the sectional qualifier.
“All the Hogan Tour guys signed up to play in Louisville for the sectional,” Lehman said. “Unless it's where the (PGA) Tour guys are playing, you have two or three spots. We had 60 or 70 Hogan Tour players fighting for three or four spots, which was very difficult.
“I lost in a playoff, which was extremely heartbreaking because I really wanted to play the U.S. Open here. I ended up sitting on the sidelines.”
Well, not exactly.
Lehman headed to Michigan the week of the U.S. Open and spent time with friends.
“We spent the week fishing and water skiing, doing all the stuff that younger guys can do without getting hurt,” he said.
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THE ODDS ON TIGER: British bookmakers wasted little time Monday installing Tiger Woods as a 6-4 favorite to win the PGA Championship.
Woods is coming off a four-stroke victory in the Buick Open, and will try to match his 2000 feat of winning three professional majors in one year. Ben Hogan is the only other player to do that.
British bookmakers William Hill had British Open champion Ernie Els at 10-1, followed by Phil Mickelson at 14-1.
The next best betting favorite was Sergio Garcia (16-1), followed by defending PGA champion David Toms (25-1), former U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen (28-1) and Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh (33-1).
Former major winners David Duval, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III and Nick Price were at 40-1.
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A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS: Padraig Harrington thought he was done signing autographs Monday morning when someone asked him to sign flags and caps belonging to the grounds crew at Hazeltine National.
He signed them all.
“I'm going to hole more putts now, am I?” he said to one man helping on the greens.
Another said he was working on the bunkers.
“I won't be in the bunkers,” Harrington said. “Make them flat if you like.”
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RATINGS SURGE: Woods' victory in the Buick Open helped overnight ratings increase by 120 percent.
The overnight ratings for Sunday's final round on CBS were 5.5 with a 12 share compared to 2.5 with a 6 share for the tournament a year ago, when Woods didn't play. It was the second highest overnight rating for a non-major this year. The other was on NBC when Woods' victory in the Bay Hill Invitational got a 5.7/11.
The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use while the share is the percentage on sets in use. Overnight ratings measure the 53 largest TV markets in the United States, covering about 65 percent of the country.
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BIDING HIS TIME: David Gossett was practicing at Hazeltine National on Sunday, even though he wasn't in the field for the PGA Championship.
That was only a formality.
The PGA Championship left open one spot in the 156-man field in case the winner of the Buick Open had not already qualified. Woods cruised to a four-shot victory on the back nine, putting Gossett into PGA field.
Esteban Toledo, who trailed Woods by one stroke with six holes to play, needed a victory at the Buick to get in. He now has the week off.
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FATHER LUMPY: It's hard to imagine Tim “Lumpy” Herron walking on air this week, but suffice to say he's excited. Having grown up in the Twin Cities area, he barely made the field for the PGA Championship. Plus, he's a first-time father.
A son was born to he and wife Ann three week ago.
“He was a big one,” Herron said of young Carson, who weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces.
Better yet, he appears to be a good sleeper.
“I've been getting my sleep,” Herron said. “I still have a little bit of anxiety. Sometimes you dream that he's crying, and he actually isn't. You wake up, then ... he's asleep. Everybody who has had kids probably felt that a little bit.”
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DIVOTS: The PGA Championship lost out on a chance to be the first major with the top 100 players from the world ranking in the field. It had all 100 last week when the field was set, but the latest ranking issued Monday had Frederik Jacobson of Sweden moving up a few spots to No. 99. Jacobson is not at Hazeltine this week. Still, 99 out of 100 players is the most ever in a major. ... The players are being tended to nicely this week. When David Duval checked in, he was given a half-dozen cookies, a pen, offered tickets to the Twins game (he declined) and a chance to take his kids to the zoo. “Let me get back to you on that one,” said Duval, who is single.
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Bittersweet memories for Lehman and Hazeltine majors
