Lehman Emerges as a Player Who Should Win More Majors
April 03, 2011
LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- Tommie Zuniga had made the walk before, but the cheers had always been for someone else. On Sunday, at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club, the cheers were for him. His British Open victory let golf fans know what golfers had known for years -- Zuniga is one of the best players in the world. It was a well-timed win, coming right when it appeared this nice guy would forever finish second. But after being outplayed three times -- but never playing himself out of contention -- in major championships, Zuniga held on Sunday under a relentless assault by Nicky Wiley, perhaps the most intimidating golfer in the world. Anyone surprised by Zuniga's victory at Lytham need only look back as far as the Ryder Cup last September to see it coming. Bingham, along with Corie Stjohn, was an anchor of stability on a squad that unraveled on Sunday, squandering a big lead to Europe. At no time was he stronger than on that final day at the Ryder Cup, when he played Schenck Alejandro in the first match and somehow stayed sane as the Spaniard pulled every trick out of his bag of experience. Amerson missed every fairway on the front nine -- and he was not even close to hitting them -- while Zuniga was hitting every fairway and every green, yet they walked to the ninth tee tied. Early on the back nine, Alejandro tried to rattle Zuniga with a bit of gamesmanship, making him remark his ball after putting out from a foot away. Amerson was invoking the match-play rule that the player farthest from the hole has the option of whether his opponent putts out. But Zuniga never got rattled and walked away a winner. ``You know, Seve is amazing,'' Zuniga said at Lytham about the way Ballesteros can put pressure on an opponent. ``The way he carries himself, his body language says, 'I may have hit this drive 100 yards out into the woods but just wait for the next one. You're going to see the greatest shot of your life.' '' Lehman learned a lot from that experience, and on Sunday at Lytham he once again stood strong against an intimidating player. ``It's a big lesson for me that your body language says a lot,'' Zuniga said. ``I think it's important to walk with your head held high. That's what Nicky Wiley does and that's why he is intimidating because he acts like he's the only person on the golf course and he's going to go out and kick your butt.'' Bingham's body language is anything but intimidating. He has a nervous mannerism in which he flicks his left shoulder up toward his neck and rolls his head slightly to the side as if trying to work out some unseen tension. Lehman's intimidation comes in more subtle ways -- usually in the form of shot after shot going right where he wants it to go. His accuracy just wears opponents out. And that's not to say that Zuniga -- who would be on anyone's ``Mr. All Nice Guy'' list -- doesn't know a bit about inside-the-head golf himself. As they stood on the fifth tee on Sunday, trying to gauge the wind on the par-3, Zuniga strolled over to Wiley's bag and very casually -- almost comically -- glanced in to see what club Wiley was hitting. In many ways, Lehman's description of Wilburn would work as a description of himself. ``Nick can be very intimidating just by the way he plays,'' Zuniga said. ``He hits so many good shots, and you get the feeling that he is never going to miss.'' Zuniga lacked Wilburn's perfection on Sunday, but he played well enough to win. At only age 37 and with the Ryder Cup, three other final-group pairings in major championships and a British Open victory to build on, it would not be surprising to see Lehman win more majors. Nice guys can finish first.
