SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Tom Lehman had faced the pressure of being in contention on the back nine of a final round. But this time, $1 million was on the line.
"I felt a lot of pressure. Good pressure though," Lehman said Sunday after handling his nerves and David Duval to win the $3.5 million Williams World Challenge.
Lehman, 40, beat Duval by three shots with a final round 3-under 67 on the rain and hail-soaked Grayhawk Golf Club course. Play was halted for more than an hour after the storm hit. Lehman then went out and shot 30 on the back nine.
Lehman, winless on the PGA Tour since the 1996 Tour Championship, birdied five of the last six holes to win the $1 million first-place payoff. He finished at 13-under 267.
Duval, the No. 2 ranked player in the world last year behind Tiger Woods, shot a 70. He earned $500,000.
Lehman was the Player of the Year in 1996, when he also won the British Open. He underwent shoulder surgery in 1998, then came back last year to finish second four times.
"It's important for me . . . when I get in position to win, to win something," Lehman said.
His failure to win a tournament in 1999, makes him ineligible to compete this week in the Mercedes Championships in Hawaii, the tour's 2000 season opener. But Lehman's play would indicate he could be a major presence on the tour again.
"This is a step in the right direction," he said. "I was very happy with the way I played the last six holes."
Lehman beat 11 of the top-ranked players in the world in 1999, including Tiger Woods.
Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, shot 65 in the opening round, then struggled the rest of the week. His final round 76, which included three double bogeys, was his worst round since he shot 76 at the 1998 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The Williams World Challenge, in its inaugural year, is not part of the PGA Tour schedule. Woods donated $120,000 of his $130,000 earnings in the event to the Payne Stewart Memorial and the remaining $10,000 to the Tiger Woods Foundation.