| AP Sports Headlines |
Tiger draws first blood; Lehman cleans up
By KEN PETERS / AP Sports Writer
LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) -- If Tom Lehman seemed calm as he bent over his 18-foot birdie putt, it was because he didn't realize he could pocket $100,000 if he made it.
Lehman curled in the tricky putt Saturday on the eighth hole of the Skins Game.
He increased his bankroll $30,000 more by rolling in another birdie putt on the ninth and final hole to earn $130,000 for the day.
Tiger Woods won one hole worth $60,000, and Mark O'Meara took one worth $20,000. David Duval, a last-minute replacement for Fred Couples in the foursome, was shut out.
Lehman said the prospect of winning $100,000 wasn't on his mind at the eighth green.
"I was thinking that I had to make it because I knew Mark would make his," Lehman said. "I wasn't thinking about the money; I was thinking about halving the hole."
After Lehman rolled his putt in, however, O'Meara's birdie try from 12 feet stayed high and slid past the cup.
"Mark gave me a break," Lehman said. "He's one of the best putters on the Tour and I thought he would make that."
"I just didn't make a good putt," O'Meara said. "And the key in the Skins Game is making the right putt at the right time."
Only Woods had played in a previous Skins Game, winning $40,000 last year. Lehman, the 1996 British Open champion, said his only previous skins experience was against golfing buddies in practice rounds for $10 a hole.
Woods had almost claimed the pot, worth $70,000 at the time, on the seventh hole. His 10-foot birdie try looked right on target, but the ball lipped the cup.
"I hit the ball well, but I just missed a couple of putts," Woods said.
Duval, who won the last three tournaments to close out the PGA Tour this year, filled in after Couples withdrew to remain with his ailing father, Tom, in Seattle. Tournament officials said Saturday that Tom Couples died sometime late in the week, but they were not certain what day.
There will be $390,000 available Sunday for the second nine holes of the 18-hole Skins, which has a total purse of $600,000.
After Lehman's dramatic birdie on No. 8, he made a 12-footer on No. 9, with Woods just missing a 12-footer that would have tied the hole.
Woods earned $60,000 with a birdie on the par-3 No. 3, when he hit his 9-iron within five feet and made the birdie putt to take the first skin of the competition.
O'Meara broke into the money column on the next hole, when he hit a 1-iron off the tee on the 343-yard par-4, then knocked a pitching wedge within 8 feet of the pin.
In the Skins Game, the low scorer wins a hole ("skin") and the prize money for that hole. If at least two players tie a hole, the money carries over to the next and all four players are compete for it.
The first six holes were worth $20,000 each, the next six $30,000 each and Nos. 13-17 $40,000 each. The 18th and final hole includes a $60,000 bonus, making it worth at least $100,000.
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