Insider: Two tough tests in Scotland for Champions

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Tom Lehman is the early favorite at Carnoustie after his T14 finish at the Old Course.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- For Tom Lehman, the grand memories of this mystical town and its beguiling Old Course are too many to count.

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But there's always room for another.

Lehman provided such a moment with his final two strokes of the British Open. He nearly holed his drive on the 357-yard final hole, then tapped in from a foot away for an eagle-deuce and a final round 70.

He'll take that bit of brilliance with him up the Scottish coast to Carnoustie and this week's Senior British Open. Lehman shot 4-under-par 284 to lead a large Champions Tour contingent on the Old Course. He tied for 14th.

Certainly, that makes him a man to beat at Carnoustie.

"I'm happy with that finish, no doubt," said Lehman, who acknowledged the galleries with a wave of his cap as he walked off the 18th green.

"For 33 holes, I went without a birdie, including the first 14 (on Sunday). I played well with nothing to show for it. Then I had birdie-eagle on two of the final four holes. I generally played solid."

And almost had an ace at the par-4 18th.

"It was nice to walk up and tap that one in," Lehman said. "From the tee, it looked like it was going in. The sound (from the galleries) started building and I was waiting for it to disappear. I really thought it was going to vanish."

The Old Course is Lehman's favorite.

"There is no golf tournament on the planet like an Open Championship at the Old Course," he said. "The course is just magical. It's been a remarkable experience."

Lehman's preparations for the Senior British included a couple of days of rest and relaxation to refuel after a very difficult week on the Old Course, where the conditions were best described as brutal.

The weather may improve for Carnoustie but Lehman, who has played the British Open there twice, knows the challenge will be no less formidable.

"It's really a difficult, difficult golf course," Lehman said. "Especially off the tee. It's a great driving course. But you have to do everything well there. It will be a more difficult test than this week."

Loren Roberts, the defending champion, won the Senior British last year in a playoff against Fred Funk and Mark McNulty after the trio chased down 54-hole leader Greg Norman.

Roberts played in one British Open at Carnoustie where he missed the cut in 2007. He knows all about the famous finishing holes and the serpentine Barry Burn.

"The last four holes are just impossible," said Roberts, who missed the cut on the Old Course in 2010. "I couldn't get to 18 with my two best woods."

But a new driver in the bag, a TaylorMade SuperDeep, has given Roberts some extra distance off the tee to deal with the long par-4 holes at Carnoustie.

Mark Calcavecchia, who was among the leaders at St. Andrews after a second-round 67 before falling back, is looking for "some decent weather" this week.

"It would kind of be rough to play in the rotten weather for two straight weeks, but I kind of figure that might happen when you come over here," said Calcavecchia, who finished at 6-over 294.

"The sun pops out here or there. It's not bad. It's actually worse looking at it out your window and when you get out here it's not that bad."

That may normally be the case but for the British Open, the early part of the week was every bit as bad as it appeared to be.

Calcavecchia credits his improved putting to a new, oversized putter grip.

"What it does is take a little bit of tension out of my hands," he said.

But the biggest positive Calcavecchia will be working with at Carnoustie is that he likes the course. Not everybody does. It's long, it's grinding, it's hard. The final stretch of four holes are a disaster waiting to happen. Just ask Jean van de Velde or Sergio Garcia.

"I like Carnoustie a lot," Calcavecchia said. "I had a decent Open there a few years back (2007/T23). We'll see.

"Again, it depends on what kind of weather you get stuck in, if you get the good draw or the bad draw. A lot depends on that over here, and then you kind of get through the first few days, kind of like here, and kind of see where you stand and then kind of everybody is out there in the same stuff on the weekend. But I like it."

Another Champions Tour regular to watch at Carnoustie is Australian Peter Senior, who made the cut on the Old Course and finished at 3-over 291. Senior won medalist honors at the Champions Tour Qualifying tournament. His second-place finish at Regions Charity Classic is his best finish so far in his rookie year.

Champions Tour Insider Vartan Kupelian is a freelance contributor for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.