Lehman Ends His Drought in Phoenix Open

The statistics said Tom Lehman was playing superbly this year. So did Lehman.

He had a chance to repeat himself again Sunday, when he broke his four-year tour victory drought by winning the Phoenix Open by one stroke when Robert Allenby bogeyed the last hole at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Lehman won the Williams World Challenge on Jan. 2, but the Phoenix Open was his first official title in 58 starts since he won the British Open and the Tour Championship in 1996 and was the player of the year.

Lehman and Allenby had difficult putts on the final hole.

Lehman saved par with a 10-foot putt for a score of four-under-par 67 and a 72-hole total of 14-under 272.

“I played pretty scrappy,” he said. “I didn’t hit the ball well very often. I hit a lot of shots off-center, off-line, but I made a couple of really good putts.”

Allenby, who has never won on the PGA Tour, missed a five-footer when the ball made a right turn on the rim and rolled a foot away.

“Those are the breaks,” he said. “I know I’ll win down the road.”

Allenby played 17 holes without a bogey. He drove off the 18th tee with a three-wood, and hit a nine-iron approach shot that bounced hard and rolled over the back of the green. He chipped up, but it didn’t bite and rolled past the cup.

His final-round 69 landed him in a tie for second with defending champion Rocco Mediate.

Lehman lives in Scottsdale, and his fifth career title was the first hometown win by anyone since David Duval won the 1999 Players Championship in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

Incidentally, Duval saved the PGA Tour from a huge public relations nightmare when he played the final round.

Duval, upset by hecklers during the third round, cleared out his locker Saturday night, apparently with the intention of quitting the tournament.

However, the tour coaxed Duval into returning Sunday and he shot 69 to finish in a tie for 30th at 279, earning $19,017. He would not have received anything had he not played.

When asked whether he had planned to pull out, Duval said: “That’s irrelevant. I played today and had a good day. I’ve always enjoyed playing here, but I simply believe that we as players deserve to be treated with a bit more respect.”

The $576,000 first prize vaulted Lehman to second on this year’s money list with $673,150 in two PGA Tour events. His strong start includes a tie for sixth in Hawaii two weeks ago.

As painful as Allenby’s finish was, it couldn’t have been as sharp as the anguish of third-round leader Frank Lickliter and 1996 Phoenix champion Phil Mickelson, who began the day one shot behind.

Lickliter, who was 13 under to start, shot himself out of contention early, bogeying the first hole and taking a triple bogey-eight on the third, and finished with a 74 after previous rounds of 67-64-69.

*

New Zealander Michael Campbell was in the unique position of leading two pro golf tours after winning the $1-million Heineken Classic by six strokes at Perth, Australia.

Searing heat, a violent thunderstorm and tough competition couldn’t break Campbell’s concentration as he shot a final-round 66 for a tournament record 20-under 268.

In winning his second consecutive tournament and third of the season, Campbell became the top money earner on the Australasian and European PGA tours. Campbell won the Johnnie Walker Classic late last year, also a European-Australasian event, and last week’s New Zealand Open.

Thomas Bjorn of Denmark finished second at 274.

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Top Scores

Final 72-hole scores at the Phoenix Open:

270 (-14)--$576,000

Tom Lehman: 63-67-73-67

271 (-13)--$281,600

Rocco Mediate: 67-70-67-67

Robert Allenby: 67-67-68-69

272 (-12)--$132,267

Brandt Jobe: 67-68-72-65

Kirk Triplett: 70-69-66-67

Hal Sutton: 67-67-69-69

273 (-11)--$99,733

Edward Fryatt: 73-67-68-65

Mark Calcavecchia: 71-68-66-68

Steve Flesch: 70-65-68-70

This week: PGA--AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Pebble Beach Golf Links-Spyglass Hill-Poppy Hills, Pebble Beach; Senior PGA: Royal Caribbean Classic, Crandon Park Golf Club, Key Biscayne, Fla.