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Tom Lehman

1996 / Royal Lytham & St Annes

In becoming the first American professional to win at Royal Lytham & St Annes, and the first player from across the Atlantic since the great amateur Bobby Jones won the inaugural Open at Lytham in 1926, Tom Lehman showed both perseverance and brilliance.

The latter came especially on Saturday when the 37-year-old from Minnesota set a new course best of 64 that gave him a record of 198 strokes for the first 54 holes.

He had beaten the old mark by one stroke, achieved twice by Nick Faldo, who by coincidence was his nearest challenger, six strokes behind.

By an even greater coincidence Faldo had won the Masters three months earlier from six shots behind Greg Norman.

History would not repeat itself. Faldo missed several chances over the opening holes, not least from seven feet at the par-3 first.

Lehman had raced his first putt six feet past and he would keep holing the par putts all day even if the birdies dried up.He had only one, at the short 12th, but a closing 73 was good enough for a two-stroke victory over Ernie Els and Mark McCumber.

Faldo finished fourth but once his challenge faded Lehman, who had lost the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open the previous month, still had to hold on under great pressure, not least from Els who made four birdies coming home before bogeying two of the last three holes.

“It was not pretty but it was gritty,” Lehman said. “It was a struggle but I stuck it out. It really is the greatest day of my life.”

Tiger Woods finished tied for 22nd, scoring a 66 in the second round which tied Frank Stranahan’s record for an amateur, and won the Silver Medal in what would be his last major before turning professional.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Tom LEHMAN
1
67
67
64
73
271
-
Mark MCCUMBER
2
67
69
71
66
273
-
2
68
67
71
67
273
-
4
68
68
68
70
274
-
Mark BROOKS
5
67
70
68
71
276
-
Jeff MAGGERT
5
69
70
72
65
276
-
7
67
70
69
71
277
-
Peter HEDBLOM
7
70
65
75
67
277
-
Greg TURNER
7
72
69
68
68
277
-
7
71
68
71
67
277
-
11
73
67
71
67
278
-
11
70
68
69
71
278
-
11
69
67
69
73
278
-
14
76
67
66
70
279
-
Paul McGINLEY
14
69
65
74
71
279
-
Mark MCNULTY
14
69
71
70
69
279
-
Shigeki MARUYAMA
14
68
70
69
72
279
-
18
68
68
73
71
280
-
Rocco MEDIATE
18
69
70
69
72
280
-
Michael WELCH
18
71
68
73
68
280
-
Loren ROBERTS
18
67
69
72
72
280
-
Steve STRICKER
22
71
70
66
74
281
-
22
75
66
70
70
281
-
Jay HAAS
22
70
72
71
68
281
-
Carl MASON
22
68
70
70
73
281
-
Mark JAMES
22
70
68
75
68
281
-
Corey PAVIN
27
70
66
74
72
282
-
Peter MITCHELL
27
71
68
71
72
282
-
Tom KITE
27
77
66
69
70
282
-
27
73
68
71
70
282
-
Frank NOBILO
27
70
72
68
72
282
-
Paul BROADHURST
27
65
72
74
71
282
-
Brad FAXON
33
67
73
68
75
283
-
David GILFORD
33
71
67
71
74
283
-
Eamonn DARCY
33
73
69
71
70
283
-
Hidemichi TANAKA
33
67
71
70
75
283
-
Tommy TOLLES
33
73
70
71
69
283
-
Eduardo ROMERO
33
70
71
75
67
283
-
Scott SIMPSON
33
71
69
73
70
283
-
33
67
69
72
75
283
-
41
72
71
72
69
284
-
41
72
68
76
68
284
-
David FROST
41
70
72
71
71
284
-
Klas ERIKSSON
41
68
75
72
69
284
-
Richard BOXALL
45
72
70
71
72
285
-
45
68
71
72
74
285
-
Bradley HUGHES
45
70
69
75
71
285
-
Peter JACOBSEN
45
72
70
74
69
285
-
Billy MAYFAIR
45
70
72
74
69
285
-
45
69
66
77
73
285
-
45
71
70
74
70
285
-
45
68
73
71
73
285
-
Payne STEWART
45
70
73
71
71
285
-
45
72
69
69
75
285
-
Craig STADLER
45
71
71
75
68
285
-
Robert ALLENBY
56
74
68
71
73
286
-
Jim PAYNE
56
72
71
73
70
286
-
56
71
69
73
73
286
-
Stephen AMES
56
71
72
69
74
286
-
Michael JONZON
60
69
73
73
72
287
-
Jeff SLUMAN
60
72
70
70
75
287
-
D.A. WEIBRING
60
71
72
72
72
287
-
Brian BARNES
60
73
70
69
75
287
-
64
71
70
74
73
288
-
Carl SUNESON
64
73
69
74
72
288
-
Gordon LAW
64
74
69
71
74
288
-
67
70
73
69
77
289
-
David A RUSSELL
67
70
72
74
73
289
-
Brett OGLE
67
70
73
73
73
289
-
Howard CLARK
70
72
71
76
71
290
-
71
71
72
71
77
291
-
Curtis STRANGE
72
71
72
72
77
292
-
Domingo HOSPITAL
72
75
68
77
72
292
-
Rick TODD
72
74
69
73
76
292
-
Roger CHAPMAN
72
72
70
70
80
292
-
Retief GOOSEN
76
72
71
74
76
293
-
Arnaud LANGENAEKEN
77
72
71
77
78
298
-
Barry LANE
M/C
71
73
-
-
-
M/C
Silvio GRAPPASONNI
M/C
71
73
-
-
-
M/C
Bob ESTES
M/C
73
71
-
-
-
M/C
Santiago LUNA
M/C
72
72
-
-
-
M/C
Ricky WILLISON
M/C
72
72
-
-
-
M/C
Philip WALTON
M/C
72
72
-
-
-
M/C
David FEHERTY
M/C
77
67
-
-
-
M/C
Marc FARRY
M/C
70
74
-
-
-
M/C
Sam TORRANCE
M/C
72
72
-
-
-
M/C
Fuzzy ZOELLER
M/C
70
75
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
71
74
-
-
-
M/C
Craig PARRY
M/C
74
71
-
-
-
M/C
Jose RIVERO
M/C
74
71
-
-
-
M/C
Peter O'MALLEY
M/C
73
72
-
-
-
M/C
Jose COCERES
M/C
72
73
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
75
70
-
-
-
M/C
Woody AUSTIN
M/C
72
73
-
-
-
M/C
Sean MURPHY
M/C
76
69
-
-
-
M/C
Davis LOVE III
M/C
72
74
-
-
-
M/C
Malcolm MACKENZIE
M/C
71
75
-
-
-
M/C
Yoshinori KANEKO
M/C
73
73
-
-
-
M/C
Warren BLADON
M/C
73
73
-
-
-
M/C
Andrew COLTART
M/C
72
74
-
-
-
M/C
Paul EALES
M/C
73
73
-
-
-
M/C
Tony JOHNSTONE
M/C
70
76
-
-
-
M/C
Steve JONES
M/C
73
73
-
-
-
M/C
Ross MCFARLANE
M/C
73
73
-
-
-
M/C
Peter SENIOR
M/C
74
72
-
-
-
M/C
Bill MCCOLL
M/C
74
72
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
71
76
-
-
-
M/C
Terry PRICE
M/C
77
70
-
-
-
M/C
Andrew SHERBORNE
M/C
73
74
-
-
-
M/C
Ian WOOSNAM
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
Per-Ulrik JOHANSSON
M/C
70
77
-
-
-
M/C
Steen TINNING
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Steve ALLAN
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
73
74
-
-
-
M/C
Anders FORSBRAND
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
Satoshi HIGASHI
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
79
68
-
-
-
M/C
Mark LITTON
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Gordon BRAND JR
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Antoine LEBOUC
M/C
72
76
-
-
-
M/C
Massimo FLORIOLI
M/C
71
77
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
76
72
-
-
-
M/C
David J RUSSELL
M/C
77
71
-
-
-
M/C
Hajime MESHIAI
M/C
76
72
-
-
-
M/C
Gary EMERSON
M/C
76
72
-
-
-
M/C
Stephen FIELD
M/C
72
76
-
-
-
M/C
Wayne WESTNER
M/C
78
70
-
-
-
M/C
Iain STEEL
M/C
72
77
-
-
-
M/C
Fabrice TARNAUD
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Wayne RILEY
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Jon ROBSON
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
Stuart CAGE
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Diego BORREGO
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Joakim HAEGGMAN
M/C
72
77
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Tim HERRON
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Andrew OLDCORN
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Robert LEE
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Jay TOWNSEND
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
80
70
-
-
-
M/C
Lee JANZEN
M/C
74
77
-
-
-
M/C
Adam MEDNICK
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Mats HALLBERG
M/C
79
72
-
-
-
M/C
Paul AZINGER
M/C
74
77
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Ross DRUMMOND
M/C
78
74
-
-
-
M/C
Bob TWAY
M/C
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
Gary BROWN
M/C
74
80
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Kazuhiro FUKUNAGA
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
M/C
78
84
-
-
-
M/C
Michael CAMPBELL
DQ
75
-
-
-
-
M/C
Wd
75
-
-
-
-
M/C
Des SMYTH
DQ
72
-
-
-
-
M/C

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