Lehman vows he'll eventually win Open

Lehman floundered much of the day, never able to make a key putt

Web posted June 22, 1998

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- Some day, vows Tom Lehman, he'll win a U.S. Open. Maybe even two, or three, or four.

He didn't once again Sunday, leaving himself some more increasingly bitter memories of playing in the final group in four straight Opens and failing each time to hoist the trophy on the 18th green.

It happened again at The Olympic Club, where Lehman had Payne Stewart in his sights but couldn't make a single birdie. This time, though, he saved everyone the suspense by not playing well from the time he hit his opening tee shot into the trees.

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Even before he collapsed for a second straight U.S. Open on the 17th hole, Lehman had long since ceased being a factor in what turned out to be a two-man duel between Stewart and eventual winner Lee Janzen.

``The last thing I want to do now is play golf,'' a disappointed Lehman said. ``I guess I'm just a little bit irritated with myself.''

By the time he walked off the 14th green after making a bogey, only to look at the scoreboard and see Janzen four shots ahead playing the 17th hole, Lehman knew it was over. It began much earlier, when he hit his tee shot into the woods on No. 1, then missed a 2-footer to make bogey.

Lehman floundered much of the rest of the day, never able to make a key putt and never really a contender down the stretch, finishing with a 75, tied for fifth with Steve Stricker at 6-over 286.

``If I can keep playing well in this tournament the next four or five years I'm going to win one,'' Lehman said. ``Or two, or three, or four.''

After leading the Open the last three years going into the final round, only to falter, Lehman was four shots behind Stewart walking to the first tee at Olympic. The pressure of being a front-runner was off, but Lehman still needed to make a move.

He stood on the first tee and promptly hit his drive way right into the trees. He recovered, only to miss a short putt and make bogey on the easiest hole on the golf course.

``That wasn't a good way to start,'' Lehman said. ``It was really like giving two shots away.''

Lehman, who has now shot over par in the final round in four straight Opens, came back to make seven straight pars, and had narrowed the gap to three shots before hitting his tee shot into the right rough on No. 9. He hit his second shot over the green and missed a par putt.

With Stewart giving shots back to the field, Lehman still held out some hope before missing a 5-footer for par on 14. Walking off the green he saw Janzen had made his move.

``It was pretty much history by then,'' Lehman said. ``We were all in a position where we knew we had to go out and play a good round. He's the only one who did it.''

Lehman, who blew his chance to win the Open last year at Congressional when he hit a 7-iron into the water on the 17th hole, had no mathematical chance to win by the time he reached that hole Sunday. He bladed a chip over the green and then needed two more putts coming back for a double bogey 6.

It was his only double bogey, but he didn't make a birdie all day.

``I don't think I pressed. I just couldn't get a flow going,'' Lehman said. ``The bogey on (No.) 1 kind of set the tone for the day and when I needed to make a birdie I couldn't do it.''

Lehman ended up a stroke behind Nick Price, who had problems of his own in shooting a final-round 73.

Price three-putted No. 1 and three-putted again on No. 6, as the putting woes that have plagued him since winning two PGA Championships and one British Open continued.

``It's awful,'' Price said. ``I had my opportunities, I just couldn't make one. I knew I couldn't afford to make mistakes and the two three-putts were big mistakes.''

While Price was looking for a win to put him back to where he was four years ago when he was dominating golf, Lehman was trying to shake the label of the best Open golfer never to win an Open.

On a day when that didn't happen, he walked off with his wife, Melissa, with a vow not to touch his clubs for awhile.

``It's disappointing,'' he said. ``That's the worst I've played on Sunday the last three or four years.''