Tom Lehman

2008 The Open Championship

17-20 July - The Open Championship - Royal Birkdale. The 137th Open Championship was successfully defended by Padraig Harrington. He shot -4 on the back 9 on the Sunday to pull away from Ian Poulter and overnight leader Greg Norman. The Open this year was without one notable absentee as World #1 Tiger Woods was recovering from knee surgery. Greg Norman became the oldest golfer ever to hold at least a share of the 54-hole lead when he led by 2 strokes on +2. Due to extremely high winds, no one managed to play under par for the round, and it was first time since 1986 when the 54-hole leader was not under par. Despite a wrist injury that almost forced him to withdraw prior to the tournament Harrington pulled away from the field with a tremendous back 9 and became only the fifth golfer to retain the Open Championship in the last 50 years.

In Tom Lehman's bag...The former champion put in another solid performance this week with consistency being the key for Lehman. Rounds of 75, 74 and a pair of 73’s secured the veteran a very respectable 32nd place finish. From the club that Tom is pulling out of the bag we can see that he is still using the same TaylorMade Tour Preferred iron that he has been using since we last spotted him. But like the last time the image is not great for identifying every club in the bag. Tom must have thought about using his V Steel for this shot as the headcover has been removed. We can also see a TP badge on the headcover to his Rescue so we can assume that this is still the TaylorMade Rescue Dual we caught him with back in the United States.

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2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational

13-16 March - Arnold Palmer Invitational - Bay Hill Club and Lodge. In typical Tiger fashion, the world #1 sank a 24-foot putt on the 72nd hole at Bay Hill for his fifth consecutive win, much to the annoyance of Bart Bryant who was looking for his first win since 2005. This was his biggest challenge since this streak began 7 months ago, Woods outlasted 45-year-old Bart Bryant and won with a birdie putt on the 72nd hole for the first time in 7 years. He turned and slammed his cap to the ground, letting out a roar to celebrate his 64th career victory, tying Ben Hogan at #3 on the PGA Tour career list.

In Tom Lehman's bag...An opening round of 66 set the tone of the week for the former Open Champion. Lehman followed this up with a 69 and a 71 and was in contention going into the final round. He however could not find that spark in the final round to take him to another PGA Tour victory. However a closing round of 70 secured his first top-10 finish of the season. You’re never going to get the best photos every time - and this is one of those times. But we have still been able to identify most of his clubs thanks to the encyclopaedic minds of our operations team and thanks to the TaylorMade and Golf Channel websites to fill in a few of the blanks. His irons are the TaylorMade Tour preferred model launched earlier in 2008. He also carries a TaylorMade RAC Satin wedge and TaylorMade Rescue Dual hybrid. We can clearly see a Titleist Scotty Cameron headcover but cannot tell what model he was using this week - maybe a prototype like many other pros?

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2007 Barclays Scottish Open

12-15 July - The Barclays Scottish Open - Loch Lomond. As the curtain raiser to the Open Championship the following week at Carnoustie, the Barclays Scottish Open attracted some of the biggest names in the world – Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Luke Donald and others all made the trip. It wasn’t, however, one of the big names who walked away with the £50,000 first prize – but a virtually unknown Frenchman - Gregory Havret - who holed a tricky 5-footer on the first extra hole to beat world no 3 Phil Mickelson in a play-off. The title also earned Havret the last remaining spot at the Open.

In Tom Lehman's bag...A better close-up of Tom Lehman's bag at the Scottish Open showing his TaylorMade r7 TP irons. A 454.10 Vokey wedge can also be seen at the front.

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2007 The Players Championship

10-13 May - The Players Championship - TPC at Sawgrass - Stadium Course. The Players Championship (TPC) has for a long time been considered golf’s ‘5th’ Major because of the traditionally very strong field – typically the top 50 players in the world congregate to battle it out for the huge prize money. The victor this time was Phil Mickelson who, helped by Tiger’s old coach, Butch Harmon, bagged the $1.62m first prize and the 31st PGA Tour victory of his career after finishing with a 3-under 69 and a two-stroke victory over Sergio Garcia. Stewart Cink and Jose Maria Olazabal a further stroke back tied 3rd. The Stadium course is famous for its tiny island green on the par 3 17th – which this time proved a watery grave for a record 94 golf balls (it’s not just us handicappers who end up in the drink). This was Mickelson’s first victory at the TPC after 14 attempts.

In Tom Lehman's bag...Tom Lehman tied 23rd at the TPC in Sawgrass - and here's the kit he used to win the $80,000 cheque: TaylorMade r7 TP irons, r7 Superquad TP 9.5 degree driver, TaylorMade V Steel 13 degree fairway wood and a Rescue TP 19 degree.

(CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE VERSION).