Tom Lehman is looking to become a member of a very exclusive club in 2011. This club is so exclusive, he would in fact be the first and sole member.The 52-year old Austin, Minnesota native, is trying to become the first player in history to win the Player of the Year award on all three Tours -- The Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour and Champions Tour.
Lehman captured the season long race for the Charles Schwab Cup this past weekend holding off Mark Calcavecchia by 74 points to earn the cup for 2011.
"The ending was pretty tight, pretty down to the wire." said Lehman after his round.
"I remember, '96, when I won Player of the Year, I won the season-ending tournament, THE TOUR Championship to win the money title and to win the Player of the Year and the Vardon Trophy and all that kind of stuff. Looked like Calc had a great chance of doing it here, of taking it all one fell swoop at the end. He played great. Really, really impressed with the way he played and the way he battled."
"He shot even par the first day I played with him and it could have been 80. He just hung in there so well and overcame a bunch of mistakes and obviously played well throughout the week."
"To come in here knowing you have to finish second or better and finish tied for second with just one too many guys was pretty impressive, hats off to him. As for me, I'm thrilled to win the trophy."
"It's been a long year, from the second week I've had that yellow jersey and had a lot of times where guys were closing in and had to play a good week and have a good tournament, and I did."
"And this week was one of those weeks where I think I made five birdies in four rounds only. Just tee to green I played pretty well and on the greens I made nothing and it created a lot of stress for me out there"
To add to his chances of winning the Champions Tour Player of the Year award, you can also take on three victories, two runner up finishes, two third place finishes, 12 top-10's and 20 top-25's in 21 events on the season.
One of his victories, a Champions Tour Major, where he defeated Peter Senior in a playoff to win the Regions Tradition in May.
He also secured the Arnold Palmer Award this season, which is awarded to Champions Tour leading money winner, pocketing $2,081,526.
Lehman won Player of the Year honors on the Nationwide Tour in 1991, then again on the PGA Tour in 1996. The same year he captured his only major on the PGA Tour, the Open Championship.
If he can win the Champions Tour Player of the Year honor, which is voted on by his peers. He would be the only player in history to win that award on all three tours.
A major accomplishment to say the very least -- Since it has never been done before.
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