2009 Hazeltine PGA Championship: Lehman Hopes To Head To Hazeltine

Tom Lehman, who got a special exemption to play in the PGA Championship, said he feels good heading into this week's event at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, is striking the ball well, is excited to play and has high hopes.

"I played reasonably well at the U.S. Senior Open last week; I finished eighth," the Alexandria golfer said. "By and large, I've been playing pretty consistently throughout the year, and I feel good about that. My health is good. Everything about my body feels pretty good.

"I'm going to play a few [tournaments]. I've played a couple and I'll play, I would say, two or three more, throughout the rest of the year."

Lehman said he is playing the week after the PGA Championship at the JELD-WEN Tradition, a Champions Tour event in Sunriver, Ore. Lehman turned 50 earlier this year and won his debut event in the 50-and-up tour, teaming with Bernhard Langer to win at the Legends of Golf in a playoff in April.

Asked how he would describe Hazeltine National, Lehman said, "You know, I really haven't played there all that much." He finished in a tie for 29th at the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine but did not play in the 1991 U.S. Open there.

"I played there a few times in college, just goofing around, that's about it," he said. "I don't have a lot of experience out there."

Lehman has been out to Hazeltine in recent days. "It's tough. It's long," he said. "... The length is difficult. The shapes of the greens are very demanding. So, if the greens get firm and they get fast, it's going to be hard to hit it close to the hole.

"It favors long hitters, for sure. The thickest rough is right off the edge of the fairway, so if you hit it just a little off line you're in trouble. If you hit it a lot off line, generally, you might get away with a little bit more. So, some of the guys who are notoriously wild off the tee, but very long, guys like [Phil] Mickelson and Tiger [Woods], have an advantage."

2009 Hazeltine PGA Championship: Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods rode his putting stroke into the lead midway through today’s final round of the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational. 

Woods, the No. 1 player in the golf’s Official World Ranking, started the round three strokes behind Padraig Harrington and quickly made up the deficit. 

He holed a 24-foot putt for eagle at the par-5 second hole, then made birdie putts of 13 feet on the par-4 fourth, 27 feet on the par-3 fifth and seven feet on the par-4 ninth to move to 12-under par for the tournament with nine holes to play. 

Harrington, a three-time major championship winner who is seeking his first victory this season on the U.S. PGA Tour, shot even-par for the first nine holes and is 10-under at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. 

Woods is aiming for his fifth tournament title of the season and 70th of his career. Next week, he’ll go for his 15th major golf title -- and first this year -- at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. Woods won the PGA Tour event preceding the first three majors this season -- the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open and the British Open. 

Harrington is the defending PGA champion.