San Diego Open : Carey’s Pop Drop Helps Lehmann to First Victory

Mark Carey’s can of diet cola and his golf fortunes took a spill on the 15th tee of the Stroh’s San Diego Open.

Carey and Ted Lehmann were tied for the lead at that point and Carey had just placed his ball on the tee. He was clearing some leaves out of the way when he inadvertently knocked over his drink, which in turn moved the ball and resulted in a one-stroke penalty.

“It slipped out of my hands,” Carey said. “Sure, it unnerved me a little. What can you do, tie a leash on the can?”

That mishap gave Lehmann the momentum he needed. Carey had a three-stroke lead after 54 holes, but Lehmann came back to finish with a 15-under-par 276 to win the $2,500 first prize in 56th annual tournament at Cottonwood.

Carey shot a 143 in the final two rounds and was two strokes behind at 278. The top amateur was Dirk Jones. He finished with a nine-under-par 282. Not only did Lehmann pick up a little spending money, he also got the first win of his 1 1/2-year professional career.

“It feels great--it feels really good,” Lehmann said. “I feel I accomplished one of my short-term goals for the next six months. Everyone’s always told me to set goals--they work. I was too lazy to do it. I finally did.”

Carey seemed to downplay the pop-dropping episode, but Lehmann believes it was a key factor in the tournament.

“To me, it was very important,” he said. “I hate to win a tournament on something like that. I would’ve rather had him play well at the finish. I wasn’t glad to see it--I was disappointed. But it was an advantage in my favor and I wanted to capitalize on it.”

Lehmann, who led throughout the first two days of the tournament, found himself trailing Carey after 54 holes. Still, he wasn’t worried that he’d suffer a repeat of the Kansas Open, when he was on top most of the way, only to crumble at the end.

“I wasn’t blowing it--I was being outplayed,” Lehmann said. “Mark played a super round. I played a good round. He outplayed me.

“I tried to play the course, not play Mark. I played my own game. I felt mentally more poised. I hit some lousy shots in the stretch, but held on.”

Lehmann was assisted by some luck as well. After he birdied the first hole in the last round, he hit a shot that was heading out of bounds, but it hit a tree and stayed in. Clearly, almost everything went right for him.

“I felt I was one of the 10 guys who could win,” Lehmann said. “Usually, I have a good idea who the top guys are. I considered myself in that category.”

Meanwhile, when the tournament was over, some of Carey’s friends asked him if he wanted a can of Coke. He was mildly amused.