Lehman Ties Record, Leads Open Shoots 65 To Overtake Stumbling Stewart, While Norman Quietly Fades From View
For Tom Lehman, it was a day of major opportunity at Oakland Hills, a chance to take advantage of semi-soft greens and unusually benign pin placements to tie the course record of 65 and earn a thoroughly unexpected one-shot lead over journeyman Steve Jones after 54 holes in the U.S. Open.
For Payne Stewart, the 36-hole leader, it was a day of major disaster, including a triple-bogey 7 at the 16th hole that also left him little chance of winning his second Open title. He played his last four holes in 5 over, shot 41 on the back and was six behind going into the last round.
And for Greg Norman, one shot off the lead after 36, it was another major disappointment, in a career defined by them. His uninspired 74 featured five bogeys and only one birdie, with one inexcusable miss of a 10-inch putt for par at the 200-yard 17th hole, three putts in all from 8 feet. At the moment, he does not look like a man who can come from five back to win. How he sounds is another matter. He declined all interview requests Saturday.
Lehman, meanwhile, made an 8-footer to save par at the 18th to earn a share of a mark held by seven other players. The low score of the tournament, posted when most of the 36-hole leaders were barely on the back nine, left him at 2-under 208. Jones, a 37-year-old with four PGA tour wins, shot 69-209 and was the only other man among the 108 still playing under par after three rounds.
At the time Lehman was lining up that final putt at 18, he admitted later that tying the record meant more to him then his standing in the tournament. But when a wild and wacky day of play ended early this evening, he found himself just where he was a year ago - leading the Open (with Norman last year) going into the final 18 holes of his favorite event.
“I like the atmosphere,” Lehman said of the Open. “I like the attention the media gives it. I like the way they set up the golf courses. I like the fact that par is rewarded. I like the fact that you have to have a lot of patience in a kind of survival test. This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, so I like that.”
Last year, Lehman and Norman were tied after three rounds at Shinnecock Hills, only to have Corey Pavin, three off the pace at the start of play Sunday, catch them to win. Norman shot 73 to finish second. Lehman, who had 74 and took third, said today he learned from that experience.
“It was a tough day last year, and I didn’t play my best,” he said. “It was very windy and 74 was not an embarrassment. … But I definitely made some mistakes. I got a little impatient, a little bit ahead of myself at times and made some bogeys I shouldn’t have made.”
There were lots of bogeys - and plenty worse - all around Saturday. Many were produced by several players who started play high on the board, only to tumble right back down, humbled by Oakland Hills’ brutal finishing holes.
Stewart, who started the day with a one-shot lead and birdied his first two holes, took the hardest fall. After driving his tee shot into strangling, ankle deep rough at the 403-yard 16th hole, he shanked his second shot into the pond, almost dunked it from the drop area and left with a triple-bogey seven. He shot 76, dropped to 214 and admitted he’ll probably have to shoot 65 to win.
“Every amateur can be proud of that hole,” Stewart said of 16. “I did it all. I hit a fat wedge. I shanked one out of the rough. It’s golf.”
The 16th also grabbed South African Ernie Els. Leading the tournament at 3 under through 15 holes, the ‘94 Open champion posted a double bogey there after a dreadful drive in the left rough. He said he listened to his caddy and hit a 3-wood off the tee instead of the 2-iron he was talked out of using.
That mistake was compounded when he went for the green 162 yards away. He had a 7-iron in his hand, but on his backswing, he brushed a tree limb and had to follow through and hit. If he stopped the swing, a penalty would have been assessed. His ball wound up on the rocks in an unplayable lie inches from the water. He eventually made a 6-footer to avoid a triple, too, then bogeyed the 18th and was at 1-over 211, three shots off the lead, yet somehow very much in contention.
“I’m still OK,” he said. “I’ve got to get off to a good start tomorrow.”
There were other survivors still OK on a golf course that has maintained its reputation as one of the toughest Open venues. Davis Love III, still looking for his first major title, shot a steady 70 that left him tied at even 210 with New Zealand’s Frank Nobilo (70) and John Morse (68), the only Michigan native still in the field.
The way Oakland Hills is playing for almost everyone, and with more diabolical pin placements expected today, few would be surprised if par or over-par wins. Twenty players are within five shots of the lead, and as Lehman said, “I think someone will shoot under par for sure. I’d have to believe that somebody is going to have a good round.”
Saturday, Lehman had “one of those days… . It’s almost beyond your wildest dreams to shoot 65 at Oakland Hills… . But as the round went on and the crowd got behind me, they were pulling for me. I made some really good saves, kept my momentum, and it was easy to be focused on every shot.”
Lehman had six birdies and one bogey on his card, though he said his save of par at the 220-yard 9th was “the key to the round.” He chipped to within 8 feet left of the hole and made what he described as a “little sliding downhill left-to-right breaker and it probably broke about a foot.”
The record began to come into view when he made a 30-foot birdie putt at the 16th to get to 5 under for the day. When he pushed a 6-iron from the 18th fairway into a green-side bunker, then blasted from a tough lie to 8 feet, the pressure was on. But Lehman’s putt just caught the left edge and dropped in to get him a piece of a record he said he will always cherish.
Now though, comes the hard part, the final 18 holes of a U.S. Open on a monster course. “Every chance you get to win a major creates a new level of maturity, and I feel like I’m ready,” Lehman said. “I’m not Joe Namath. I’m not going to predict a victory. But I know I’ve gone through a lot in the last few years. You just hope you can go into Sunday, have your game and put what you’ve learned to use.”
xxxx U.S. Open BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. A look at Saturday’s third round of the 96th U.S. Open, played over the 6,974-yard, par-70 Oakland Hills Country Club: Leaders Tom Lehman 71-72-65 - 208 Steve Jones 74-66-69 - 209 John Morse 68-74-68 - 210 Frank Nobilo 69-71-70 - 210 Davis Love III 71-69-70 - 210 Woody Austin 67-72-72 - 211 Ernie Els 72-67-72 - 211 Sam Torrance 71-69-71 - 211 C. Montgomerie 70-72-69 - 211 Jim Furyk 72-69-70 - 211 Tom Watson 70-71-71 - 212 John Cook 70-71-71 - 212 Stewart Cink 69-73-70 - 212 Ken Green 73-67-72 - 212 Best rounds: Lehman, who made six birdies to offset one bogey. Justin Leonard shot 67. Key stat: Lehman has played the last five holes - the toughest stretch of a very tough golf course - in 1-under-par through the first three rounds. Key pairings: Tom Lehman and Steve Jones, 11:15 a.m.; Frank Nobilo and John Morse, 11:06 a.m.; Colin Montgomerie and Davis Love III, 10:57 a.m. Television: 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on NBC.