Fatigued Lehman does what it takes to win once again

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Tom Lehman birdied No. 18 Sunday to win the Allianz Championship by one shot.

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Beware the exhausted golfer.

Tom Lehman was one tired golfer when he arrived at Broken Sound earlier this week. Who could blame him? He had played 54 holes in a 30-hour stretch in the weather-delayed Waste Management Phoenix Open -- where he had to garner 150 tickets for family and friends at his hometown PGA TOUR event -- then took a red-eye flight to South Florida.

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"I was pretty beat up after that," Lehman said. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

Lehman spent the rest of the week doing the beating. He made a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday to pull out a one-stroke victory over Rod Spittle and Jeff Sluman at the Allianz Championship.

It was Lehman's third career victory on the Champions Tour and puts him in position to join Raymond Floyd, Fred Funk and Craig Stadler as the only players to win on both tours in the same year.

"That would be nice," Lehman said, smiling. "I still think I'm capable of winning out there. This is the best I've played over the last two years since the late-1990s. I feel my game would go a long way on the PGA TOUR if I played a full schedule."

Playing in the final group, Lehman and Spittle came to the par-5 18th tied with Sluman for the lead at 12-under. It seemed apparent one would make a birdie on the easiest closing hole on the Champions Tour last year.

Lehman obviously had the edge in experience, having won five times on the PGA TOUR and four times on the Nationwide Tour while making more than 550 starts on the three tours. Spittle was a star golfer at Ohio State, but spent his last 30 years selling insurance before winning last year's final full-field event as a Monday qualifier. This was his 33rd career start on the Champions Tour.

Both players hit the 18th fairway and had short irons coming into the short par-5. Spittle hit his approach fat, however, leaving him with a 30-yard bunker shot. Lehman's 8-iron landed on the front edge of the green, leaving him 60 feet away. Spittle's blast stopped 8 feet away, then Lehman's lag putt left him with 6 feet. Spittle's birdie try lipped out and he then became as much of a cheerleader as an observer.

"If I couldn't make my putt on 18, I wanted him to make his," Spittle said. "You can't root against Tom. He's a pretty classy winner."

Lehman said a sense of calm came over him before the putt. "I knew if I made it, I won," he said. "Nobody could block my putt."

Lehman has received several honors for his never-ending work of having raised millions of dollars for charity organizations. As respected as Lehman's game is, it's a little mystifying he doesn't have more trophies.

"When you think about how well Tom hits the ball, it's a little surprising he only won five times on the PGA TOUR," Nick Price said. "He struggled with his putting some the last few years. I think it's safe to say he's going to win a lot more than five times on this tour."

Lehman agreed. "I think I'm one of the top players out here," he said. "I'm not saying that to be cocky. But I feel if I play well, I think I have a good chance to win."

Still, Lehman had to work for this one from the start to the end. On the first hole, he cold-topped a 3-wood for his second shot and failed to birdie the par-5. "That shook me up a little bit," he said. "That came completely out of left field."

This was no Sunday stroll. Lehman led for only a couple of holes all week and never had more than a one-shot lead. But when he had to make the birdie on the final hole to win, he delivered.

"Sometimes when you have to work at it, it makes it more special," Lehman said