Posted by Jason Sobel
MEDINAH, Ill. -- Despite the fact he missed the cut Friday, Tom Lehman made his presence felt in the third round of the PGA Championship. I walked the course for a few hours in the afternoon and everywhere I turned, there was Captain Tom silently scouting candidates for his U.S. Ryder Cup team, which will be finalized after Sunday's action.
Entering the final round, however, Lehman's team looks pretty set. (He will name two captain's picks Monday morning.) Of the Americans in contention right now, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Chris DiMarco and David Toms already are on the squad, so they have nothing to gain. Woody Austin, Billy Andrade and Steve Stricker, each seven shots back with a share of 12th place, need to finish in the top three or better. And Shaun Micheel and J.B. Holmes each need to be holding the Wanamaker Trophy aloft if they are to be considered team members -- both unlikely propositions.
That leaves Tim Herron. By all accounts, Lumpy needs a two-way tie for seventh place to knock Brett Wetterich out of the No. 10 spot in the rankings. His position after the third round? A four-way tie for eighth.
Yikes. If that doesn't call for a sleepless night, nothing will.
Chances are, Lehman will be rooting hard for Herron on Sunday. He's a guy who has been a consistent performer for the past decade and should mesh well with the rest of the team's talented roster.
One more reason they'll be hoping Herron jumps up a spot or two on the leaderboard? He's better than the alternative. Nothing against Wetterich, but he could be in a little over his head at The K Club. Consider this: After briefly claiming the first-round lead Thursday at 4 under, Wetterich promptly made quadruple-bogey on his next hole, then followed that with another quad five holes later. He shot a back-nine 42 and missed the cut the next day.
So, play the role of Lehman: Which guy would you rather have on the team -- the guy who missed the cut or the one on the leaderboard? Yup, that's what I thought.
