Unforgettable Day at Whistling Straits
Only a few weeks beforehand had we learned that by winning the Senior PGA Championship that Lehman would be a part of the PGA Tour’s final major of the season – “Glory’s last shot.” It made the experience we were about to have infinitely more exciting, though I’m sure the golfer we celebrated with and agonized over for years will never know the excitement he brought to us on August 13, 2010, in Kohler, Wisconsin.
We arrived at the 2nd tee box about 20 minutes before Tom Lehman was supposed to re-start his first round on Friday. The day before had been delayed by fog so he didn’t get his round finished. After standing there for about 10 minutes, we saw that they had a sign with the people a couple groups behind Lehman on the Tee. Dave asked an official if Lehman had already teed off and he said he had and that he was laying on the green. So, we hoofed it up to the green, walking along Lake Michigan, in plenty of time, even before the players. We were puzzled to see that there were 6 markings on the green, only to find out that when they blew the horn the group behind Lehman decided to play to the green as well. We finally saw Lehman and his group (Shaun Micheel and Mike Small) come walking up the 2nd fairway to get ready for their putts. Of course, Lehman’s putt was about 5 times longer than either of the other two, but we didn’t know until after the hole that Micheel was putting for par, which he would miss, and ultimately bogey. Lehman 2-putted for par.
We followed Lehman all of the next 7 holes and he gave himself multiple chances to birdie but just couldn’t knock the putts in for the most part. Following anyone on that course – simply moving around in significant amounts – was an arduous task. Consider that Dad is 70 years old and plowed through that course and it was a miraculous undertaking. We walked no less than 10 miles that day, and it wasn’t walking – it was hiking. After Lehman finished with his first round, we ventured to the back nine (Lehman played the back first in his first round) to check out some of those holes, and some of those groups. We walked over to see the 17th, first, something Dad really wanted to see as it was one of the signature holes of the course. No one had made it to that hole yet from the 2nd round so we moved on to check out the groups in the middle of the back nine. We watched 2 or 3 holes of the “Major Winners” group consisting of Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell, and Louis Oosthuizen. We saw a few other groups play through, including Rory McIlroy, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Darren Clarke, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, and Henrik Stenson. After a while on the back nine, we headed back to the front nine to pick Lehman back up. When we got to 9 we checked out the group that was playing and figured we could see Lehman finish up 8. He finished up 8 with a birdie, as well as picking one up at 9 and he was rolling in the 2nd round. He played great all the rest of the back side giving himself birdie putts on almost every hole, but the 51 year-old just couldn’t make enough of them to get up on the leaderboard. A few Hail Marys were answered on the 17th when, amidst an incredible wind, Lehman landed his tee shot onto the right fringe of the green and then missed his birdie putt, which had to be 50-60 feet, by a turn of the ball. Unfortunately 18 wasn’t so kind to him and a bogey had him in the clubhouse with an Even Par score after 2 rounds at the 92nd PGA Championship.
When Lehman finished up his 2nd round, we figured we only had a short time to wait until Tiger teed off his 2nd round so we stuck around to watch him play a hole and tee off on another. We even got to see a small temper-tantrum on #2 as he missed the fairway with a drive. It was incredible to see one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game, and also to see the size of the crowds that follow him around. We no trouble following Tom Lehman’s group around, and very little trouble following around any other group, including the “Major Winners” group. But it was hard to be in the 10th row behind Tiger Woods as he hit any particular shot. By in large, people were there in full support of him, too.
Our legs sore and feet blistered, we hobbled back to the shuttle to the North Parking Lot. I still can’t believe my 70-year-old Dad trudged every last foot of the course that we did. We all left the course in absolute awe of what we had just seen, from an incredible golf course (or should I say “hiking trail”) as well as a great performance by 51-year-old Tom Lehman. It’s an experience I’ll never forget, seeing the 2nd round of a “Major” at Whistling Straits. Little did we know what would happen after we trekked on to the ISC World Tournament in Midland, Michigan, including a hole-in-one on the signature hole by Tom Lehman in the 3rd round, and a controversial “Is it a bunker or isn’t it a bunker” finish for Dustin Johnson – a bunker we very likely walked through at some point during our time there — before finishing up with a 3-hole playoff and a Martin Kaymer victory.
I’ll never forget some of the different things we saw. First of all, the course is beautiful and grueling. We got to see Lehman encouraging Mike Small (even raving “Wow, look at that shot!” as Small played a difficult trap shot to a par chance), the golf coach at Illinois, as he struggled through his two rounds paired with Lehman. We walked much of the course with who we would guess were Shaun Micheel’s wife and his caddy’s dad. We even saw Shaun Micheel throw a club out of a bunker and later gripe about how long the 16th hole was playing that day (as if it wasn’t for everyone else).
Most of all, I’ll remember walking the course with Dave and my Dad and thinking “I can’t believe we did that, and I can’t believe my dad did that.” (For what it’s worth, he says “I can’t believe I did that, either.”) Five days later, the blisters on my feet are still healing but the memory and the excitement from that day aren’t fading. What a day!
