A PENALTY ONLY HE SAW: Amateur Bobby Jones once remarked that congratulating him for calling a penalty on himself was akin to giving him kudos for not robbing a bank. Golfers have been known to call damaging penalties on themselves, and Tom Lehman did it Sunday in the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. On the second green, he believed his ball moved as he was about to putt. For two holes, Lehman agonized over it before calling the one-stroke penalty - even though nobody else saw the ball move. "It came down to me and what I thought," Lehman said. "If the ball moved at all, it moved one-billionth of an inch. It was so imperceptible. But it looked to me like a ball gets when it's starting to rock a little bit right as I made contact. Nobody saw it. I saw it. At least, I thought I saw it." Lehman ended up tied for fourth, four shots back, after starting the final round tied for the lead.
CONTROLLING THEIR DESTINY: Only two full-field events remain on the PGA Tour, but a trio of players released the pressure on themselves to perform well when they finished 1-2-3 at Greensboro. All were ranked outside of the top 125 on the money list entering the tournament, meaning their status for next year was in question. All now have full-time jobs assured. Brent Geiberger (144th heading in), Michael Allen (153rd) and Chris Smith (152nd) were facing a return trip to the PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament if they didn't make a load of cash in the tour's remaining three weeks. Geiberger earned a two-year exemption for his win and Allen (84th) and Smith (110th) moved safely inside the top 125. For Allen, the finish was especially important. He has been to the PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament 11 times, gaining his card six times.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?:
It was a big weekend for Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando - at least in terms of the professional golfers who live there or hang their hat in the neighborhood on occasion. Four players with homes at Lake Nona won Sunday, on three different tours and in three different countries. Ernie Els, Annika Sorenstam, Sergio Garcia and Mark McNulty all won. Els captured the European Tour's World Match Play Championship in England for a record sixth time, and Sorenstam won the LPGA's Samsung World Championship in California. Garcia won the European Tour's Mallorca Classic in Spain and McNulty, who won the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in February in his first Champions Tour event, captured the SBC Championship in San Antonio. Although none of the players are Americans, all make their U.S. base at Lake Nona.
QUOTABLE
"He just told me to keep my head still. ... That's a pretty easy one to go for. I mean, my wife can give me that one."
- ERNIE ELS, on the putting advice he received from his 96-year-old grandfather the night before his match against Lee Westwood in the final of the World Match Play.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Former British Open champion Tom Lehman posted his fourth consecutive top 10 finish on the PGA Tour at the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro after having none in his first 14 starts of the year.
