What was Tom Lehman doing in the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge field?
The appropriate answer would be the 61-year-old Champions Tour player was shooting a mind-boggling, head-scratching, attention-getting five-under par 65 on day one of the PGA Tour’s long-awaited return to action.
It was thirty-five years ago when Lehman captured the 1995 Colonial, the second win of his PGA Tour career at that time.
Lehman was part of what you might call the “Geezer Patrol” in this week’s 148-player field.
Seems the folks at Schwab, used a lot of their sponsor’s exemptions on geriatric players.
There were five players age 60 or older — Lehman (61), David Frost (60), Keith Clearwater (60), Olin Browne (61) and the ageless Bernhad Langer (62).
It was Lehman who saved face for the old guys. His five-under effort was the best round on the PGA Tour by a 61-year-old since 1980.
Langer was okay with an even-par 70 but the rest stumbled their way around Colonial. Frost shot 77, Clearwater 76 and Browne 74. There were two fifty-somethings — Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker (53) and Scott McCarron (54). Stricks shot 73, McCarron 71.
Strange choice by the sponsors. Tournaments like the John Deere Classic have invited the nation’s best college players, and that has paid off as many returned to the Deere even after they became tour stars (see Jordan Spieth).
Villegas’ Young Daughter Battling Cancer:
Professional golf is tough enough when everything in your life is going right.
For Camilo Villegas, these are very touch times.
He’s on the Korn Ferry Tour, trying to regain PGA Tour status. On Wednesday, he made a stunning revelation.
Villegas revealed that his 20-month-old daughter has a brain tumor and tumors on her spine.
Villegas’ daughter, Mia, was diagnosed in early March and is currently being treated, after an initial assist from Barbara Nicklaus, at the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami.
“This is not about feeling sorry for the Villegas family,” he said. “This is about sending the Villegas family good energy, support and inspiration. That’s what Mia has been doing for me the last couple of months.”
He and his wife noticed at the Honda Classic that Mia was crying more than usual. “I don’t know why, I just kind of got a bad feeling,” he said. “We did a scan and it wasn’t good, and that’s when our journey started.”
Mia underwent surgery and is now in her second round of chemotherapy.
Bryson DeChambeau Checks In At 240:
Phil Mickelson talks about “hitting bombs” off the tee but the guy hitting bombs Thursday was bulked-up Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau said he now weighs 240, 40 pounds heavier than he was in September of 2019. Although Colonial makes it tough to hit a lot of drivers, DeChambeau still hit four drives of 330 yards or longer, including a 353-yarder on the first hole, which he birdied, and a 354-yard drive that he pulled well left at the par-5 11th. Both drives were field-bests in terms of distance.
DeChambeau played alongside U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland and Woodland’s weight has gone in the other direction. He lost 25-pounds over the past three months.
For Woodland, the weight loss was a result of his effort to to get himself in better shape.
“We don’t get a big off-season. We usually only have a couple weeks off, and at the end of the season I want to go on vacation and want to do something fun,” he said. “For me, obviously, we couldn’t go anywhere, couldn’t do anything, so I stayed home, I trained hard, changed the diet a little bit, and I lost a lot of weight.”
Woodland’s intent was to help himself get ready for a busy stretch. He plans to play 10 of the next 13 weeks.
“I have a lot of stuff coming up at the end of the year. I wanted to get my body in a position where I could play a lot more and play a lot better,” he said.
