Local Favorite Lehman Shoots 64 to Lead 3M Championship in Blaine

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  BLAINE, Minn. – Shooting his best round since a 62 at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Desert Mountain late in the 2012 season, Minnesota native Tom Lehman carded an 8-under par 64 Friday to take a three-shot lead after the opening round of the 3M Championship at TPC Twin Cities.

Grant Waite, 2014 Champions Tour Rookie of the Year, Scott Dunlap, and P.H. Horgan III will begin Saturday’s second round tied for second after all three players shot a 5-under par 67 during a breezy start to the championship Friday.

“I had such a great pairing today, if you were to write up the perfect pairing, it would be the guys that I played with,” Lehman said of being paired with last year's champion Kenny Perry and two-time winner, Bernhard Langer.

“Playing with the defending champion [Perry] and probably the best player on this tour over the last seven years, Bernhard Langer, was special. Great players and great people—very comfortable being with them and comfortable playing here at home again,” he said.

Playing a course he co-designed with Arnold Palmer, Lehman began his round with a 25-foot birdie at the second hole before hitting his 5-iron to seven feet at the par-5 third hole, rolling in an eagle to quickly jump to 3-under par.

After taking advantage of his birdie opportunity from 15 feet at the par-3 fourth hole, Lehman would make the turn at 5-under par after a birdie at the ninth.

Carding six straight pars to open the back nine, Lehman would finish his opening round with two 15-foot birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 before two-putting for birdie on the final hole, carding a 64 to take an early three-stroke lead.

“I got off to a fast start, 4-under through four [holes] was a nice way to get out of the box,” Lehman said following his round Friday. “It was nice to play a round of golf with no bogeys—I’ve been making a lot of bogeys over the last month. Every round seemed to get off to a good start and feel pretty good only to suffer from too many mistakes. It’s nice to be bogey free."

“Typically it’s a birdie-fest out here so there’s no room for getting conservative,” Lehman said of his mindset heading into the second round Saturday. “This isn’t the kind of course that even lends itself to being conservative—you get plenty of room off the tee, the greens are decent size and it’s not overly long. It’s a course that you can really get aggressive with.”

Returning stateside following The Open, Lehman has been under the weather each of the last two seasons at the 3M Championship, but said he finally feels good at this year's event and he proved it on the golf course Friday, looking to win the event for the first time in his home state.

“I hadn’t had a good round here in a few years. The first time I played here I finished second but I really haven’t played worth a hoot ever since. I had the flu a couple years ago and had pneumonia last year during this tournament and felt terrible. I felt like things weren’t going well for me on this course,” he said.

Lehman typically takes a break following the championship in the Twin Cities, spending time in his hometown of Alexandria, Minn., with family and friends.

“I just love Minnesota. I look forward to these two weeks so much, I miss the Minnesota culture. It’s a great place to live and great people to interact with so it’s nice to be back to get back to your roots. You always hear about people from Minnesota being nice—they are.”

Waite, a native of New Zealand, began his round with a two-putt birdie at the third hole before dropping three consecutive birdies outside of 10 feet starting at the fifth and would make the turn at 4-under.

Adding his fifth birdie of the round at the 12th hole, Waite would get to 5-under par before recording his only blemish of the round, a bogey at the 14th.

Waite would answer by sinking his eight-foot birdie putt at the 15th and ended his round with consecutive pars to shoot 5-under par 67 as he will begin the second round Saturday in second place, three shots off the lead.

“It was a very windy day I played a little conservative and picked my spots,” Waite said Friday. “You’ve got to control the distance with your short irons and the spin and I’ve been doing a much better job lately.

“The wind is always a test in patience. It’s a variable game and that’s what makes it fun, you’ve got to embrace it.”

Playing his first season on the Champions Tour late last year, Waite’s best finish came at the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach where he finished tied for 10th.

He would play in three events, earning more than $57,000. Waite won the 1993 Kemper Open for his only PGA Tour Victory.

Dunlap teed off on No. 10 and nearly tied a Champions Tour record Friday by rolling in seven consecutive birdies en route to a round of 67.

He birdied the opening hole before pulling even with a bogey on his second hole. His birdie streak began on the 17th as he would birdie the next six holes to get to 7-under par for the day.

Bogeys at the sixth and eighth holes put Dunlap in the clubhouse at 67, tied for second and three shots off the lead.

Horgan began his day with a birdie at the second hole before adding another at the seventh to get to 2-under.

He would fail to get up-and-down for par at the eighth, but would turn at 2-under with another birdie at the ninth.

Back-to-back birdies to open the back nine Friday put Horgan at 4-under and he would card another pair of birdies at the 15th and 16th holes to jump to 6-under.

Horgan would finish his day in a tie for second at 67 after carding a bogey at the par-3 17th.

The 3M Championship continues Saturday as tee times are scheduled to begin at 7:20 a.m. at TPC Twin Cities.


For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/champions/leaderboard.html