Tom Lehman
Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer. A former #1 ranked golfer, his tournament wins include one major title, the 1996 Open Championship. He is also the only golfer in history to have been awarded the Player of the Year honor on all three PGA Tours: the developmental Ben Hogan Tour, the regular PGA Tour, and the senior PGA Tour Champions.
Amateur career
In 1959, Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota. He was raised in Alexandria, Minnesota.Lehman played college golf at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. He graduated with a degree in business/accounting.
Professional career
In 1982, Lehman turned professional. It took Lehman many years to become a leading tour professional. He played on the PGA Tour with little success from 1983 to 1985 and was then obliged to play elsewhere for the following six seasons. This included time on the Asia Golf Circuit and Southern African Tour and on the second-tier Ben Hogan Tour in the United States. He regained his PGA Tour card by topping the Ben Hogan Tour's 1991 money list, and enjoyed unbroken membership of the PGA Tour from 1992 until shortly after he joined the Champions Tour. He was named PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1996.From 1995 to 1997, Lehman held the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open, but each time failed to win. During this period he won his only major championship to date, The Open Championship in 1996. In April 1997, he was #1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for what would be only one week. He has won five times on the PGA Tour, but in addition to his Open win these wins have included the season-ending Tour Championship and Memorial Tournament, and he has won at least nineteen professional events in total.
Although Lehman did not win a lot of tournaments on the PGA Tour he was one of the most consistent players on tour with 19 runner-up finishes between 1992 and 2006.
Unusually for a star American golfer, Lehman won almost as many regular tour events internationally as he did in the United States. His most well-known victory was at the 1996 Open Championship in England. He also won the 1993 Casio World Open on the Japan Golf Tour and the 1997 Gulfstream Loch Lomond World Invitational on the European Tour. He also recorded runner-up finishes at the 1989 South African Open and the 2000 Scottish Open, the European Tour event he won three years previous.
Lehman was captain of the Ryder Cup team in 2006, which lost 18½ to 9½ to Europe at the K Club in Ireland.
In April 2009, Lehman became the 13th Champions Tour player to win his debut tournament. He teamed with Bernhard Langer to win the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in a playoff over Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler. On May 30, 2010, Lehman won the Senior PGA Championship in a playoff over Fred Couples and David Frost for his first Champions Tour major championship. In 2011, Lehman topped the Champions Tour money list and was voted the Champions Tour Player of the Year. He is the first golfer to win "Player of the Year" honors on all three tours operated by the PGA Tour.
In June 2012, Lehman defended his title at the Regions Tradition, to win his third senior major championship. He won by two strokes from Germany's Bernhard Langer and Taiwan's Lu Chien-soon. In his next major appearance at the Senior Players Championship, he finished runner-up, two strokes behind Joe Daley.
Personal life
Lehman and his wife Melissa have lived for many years in Scottsdale, Arizona, and they have four children: two daughters and two sons. Lehman is a devout Christian.Awards and honors
- In 1991, Lehman earned Ben Hogan Tour Player of the Year honors and won the money list.
- In 1996, earned the PGA Tour Player of the Year honors and won the money list.
- In 1996, Lehman also earned PGA of America Player of the Year, the Byron Nelson Award, and the Vardon Trophy.
- In 2011, Lehman was the Champions Tour Charles Schwab Cup winner, won the money list, and earned Player of the Year honors.
- In 2012, he was the Champions Tour Player of the Year and was the Charles Schwab Cup winner.
Amateur wins
- 1981 Minnesota State Amateur
Professional wins (35)
PGA Tour wins (5)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | May 22, 1994 | Memorial Tournament | 67-67-67-67=268 | −20 | 5 strokes |  European Tour wins (2)
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