A refreshed Harman contending at The RSM Classic

Tom Lehman won the Charles Schwab Challenge in 1995, before many of the player in this week’s field were born. On Thursday, he beat many of those same players. Lehman, 61, nearly shot his age Thursday to find himself on the first page of the leaderboard when the morning wave completed play. His 5-under 65 left him just two strokes behind leader Justin Rose. Lehman is now the oldest player to shoot 65 or better on TOUR in the last 40 years. Colonial is a course that rewards precision over power, which allows older players to hang with their younger peers. Only three players under the age of 30 have won at Colonial in the last 30 years. Lehman’s performance was on another level, though. He averaged just 264 yards off the tee, but missed just three fairways and three greens. It was his lowest score on the PGA TOUR since the opening round of the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he finished T37. “Do I feel like I’m capable of shooting a 65 out here at Colonial? Well, for certain I do,â€� Lehman said. “Did I expect to do it today? Well, I would be probably lying if I said I fully expected to play and shoot such a low score. But I did expect to play well.â€� Lehman’s 65 today was two strokes lower than his first-round score when he won at Colonial. He shot 9-under 271 that week to finish one shot ahead of Craig Parry. It was the second of Lehman’s five PGA TOUR victories, which also included the 1996 Open Championship. Lehman showed last year that he can still hang with the kids. He shot 67-69 in the first two rounds of the inaugural 3M Open in his native state of Minnesota, and was tied with Matthew Wolff at the tournament’s halfway point. They were paired together in the third round when Wolff, who’s 40 years younger than Lehman, shot a 62 that put him in position to win his first PGA TOUR title. “I think the opportunity to play and to play in a tournament that I love so much and that I’ve had some success at and I’m part of the history here, that’s kind of what drove me to want to do it,â€� Lehman said. “If it would have been the second week back, third week back, fourth week back, it would have been the same feeling for me.â€�

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LAKE FOREST, IL. – Anirban Lahiri spent 10 days at a silent meditation retreat in western Massachusetts earlier this summer, but not even quiet persistence can fully explain how he’s hung on the last 10 days, barely squeaking into the fields at two of golf’s most elite events. First, Lahiri got by without his best at the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston on Labor Day, finishing T56 but watching the breaks go his way as Branden Grace and Russell Knox struggled coming in. That left Lahiri at 70th in the FedExCup, making him the last man into this week’s BMW Championship. Barely 24 hours later, Lahiri, 16th on the International Presidents Cup team points table, found out he had received one of captain Nick Price’s two wildcard picks—the most surprising of the four by Price and U.S. Captain Steve Stricker. The Internationals will play the United States at Liberty National, Sept. 28-Oct. 1. “It’s been a good time for me,� Lahiri said from the BMW at Conway Farms. “Last man in here, arguably the last man into the Presidents Cup, if you want to put it that way.� The cookies, as Lahiri likes to say, are crumbling his way. It has taken something special to get here for everyone in this week’s field at Conway Farms, but maybe for Lahiri most of all. His father, an Army officer, introduced him to the game when he was 8, and he was hard-pressed to find many golfing role models in India. Jeev Milkha Singh played a little on TOUR, as did 2010 Wyndham Championship winner Arjun Atwal. Lahiri, 30, proved an equal if not superior talent. He won 18 times worldwide but is still searching for his first victory on the PGA TOUR. He’s also still searching for his A game, and is admittedly fortunate to be doing so here among the elites at the BMW. After saying all season that he wanted a chance to atone for his 0-3-0 record at the 2015 Presidents Cup, he’ll get that. “I’ve obviously got Nick’s cell phone number, but he must have called me from his home phone, so I wasn’t expecting it—the call just showed up as Hobe Sound,� Lahiri said. “I didn’t do the math. I know he lives in Hobe Sound. ‘Hey, it’s Nick.’ ‘Oh!’ “Obviously, Nick and I are friends now, since the last Presidents Cup. We talked about the hurricane, talked about what’s happening, my game, how are you feeling, and then he said, ‘Oh, by the way, we had a long conference call.’ I was almost expecting him to say, ‘I’m really sorry,’ but he said, ‘We want you on the team.’ This was probably five minutes into the call. I was looking at my wife and gave her the thumbs-up. She didn’t know who I was talking to.� As if narrowly getting into the BMW Championship and the Presidents Cup didn’t leave his nerves sufficiently frayed, Lahiri and his wife, Ipsa Jamwal, evacuated from their U.S. base in West Palm Beach to New York in advance of Hurricane Irma last week. Once they arrived in the safety of New York, Lahiri and Presidents Cup teammate (and fellow evacuee) Emiliano Grillo of Argentina caught the U.S. Open semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro, then played Liberty National for the first time on Sunday. It was part and parcel of Lahiri’s commitment to making this Presidents Cup experience different from the last one. “Obviously, it left a bitter taste in my mouth, but not just me, the whole team,� Lahiri said of Korea, where the U.S. won 15.5-14.5. “There is such a huge difference between being a rookie and coming back. I was sort of like a deer in the headlights because I had not played on this TOUR, I was not used to being on the big stage.� Two years later, Lahiri has a home here, and plays the TOUR fulltime. He and his wife have rented in West Palm since April of last year, but they’ve bought a home in PGA National and have been renovating it for the last nine months. “Like a baby,� Lahiri said. The home, which they are scheduled to move into late next week, was mostly spared by Irma, leaving Lahiri to focus on other things, like his golf. First on the agenda will be to get to East Lake and the TOUR Championship, which will probably require a win or close to it. There’s a certain freedom in that, though. The last time Lahiri felt the need to go for broke, at the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, where his TOUR card hung in the balance, he tied for fifth. (He would eventually get his card through the Web.com Tour Finals.) Then he’s got the Presidents Cup to look forward to, in front of the legendary New York fans. Lahiri has watched with great interest as players like Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson have upped their games for team golf. “I definitely believe I can do that,� he said. Two years ago, Lahiri was the first from India to play in the Presidents Cup. It was a nice distinction, and while he’s still the only one to play in the event, and is proud of it, he says it’s now time to up the ante. “The time has come where it’s not just about representing,� Lahiri said. “You’ve got to show up and make those points for your team, make a difference, be a part of a winning cause. I’ve been saying this to the media back home. “Just playing the Olympics is not enough. Just playing the World Cup is not enough. Just playing in the Presidents Cup is not enough. Just playing in the majors is not enough. You’ve got to show up and contend and play well and win one of those things. Otherwise, you’re not going to have the next generation want to play the sport. You need to do something special.� That’s true, but there’s also something to be said for sheer survival, and just getting this far has been at least half the battle. As for the other half, who knows? If his next 10 days are as charmed as his last 10, Anirban Lahiri could be ready to make some serious noise.

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MELBOURNE, Australia – If you want to be successful at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, you better have the keys to the sandbelt. No, that is not some random car model from the 1970s you’ve never heard of. But it is a term you will hear a million times over at this week’s Presidents Cup. The sandbelt is an incredible region where the golf gods set up conditions for near-perfection when it comes to golf course design. Some of the world’s best championship courses are scattered around here. Royal Melbourne is clearly one of those. PRESIDENTS CUP: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | Data-driven Els | What will Tiger be like as captain? | Inside Internationals’ win in 1998 | Quiz: Who should you root for? The term comes from the sandy loam soil that provides the ideal foundation for shaping a course that can boast undulating and firm greens, tight-cut greenside bunkering and all-year round playability. The courses are kind of like a hybrid between parkland and links golf. In contrast to much of Melbourne, which is covered by heavy clay subsoil, the Melbourne sandbelt region is a geographic anomaly resulting from a prehistoric flood which deposited heavy sandstone into low lying areas. The sandy loam can reach a depth of up to 80 metres in some places. There is no doubt this type of golf is different to what most of the globe is used to, particularly those in the U.S. So we went to International captains assistant Geoff Ogilvy – who has played Royal Melbourne more times than he can remember – to find out the seven secrets of sandbelt golf. 1. Tee shots are all about position, not distance. The big-bombing Americans will need finesse as well as brawn this week. Says Ogilvy: “The importance of your tee shot is not about being able to get it as close as you can to the green… it is important to get yourself in a position to find the right place on the green with your next shot. “You can’t outmuscle Royal Melbourne. Distance is valuable in some spots but sometimes it’s a 4-iron off the tee and sometimes it is a driver. Power is usually always an advantage but it is a balanced advantage here. “You need to work out where to be by theoretically playing the hole backwards. Sometimes the rough on the correct side of the hole is better than the fairway on the wrong side of the hole. You have to find that position from the tee and that can be tough as it is very wide and the best position isn’t always obvious.â€� 2. You must be under the hole if you want realistic looks at birdie on these slick greens. Greens around 13 on the stimp… you better watch out. Says Ogilvy: “The whole day at Royal Melbourne is about being under the hole for your birdie putt. This is really why the tee shot has to be positioned. If your tee shot is great, then it is exponentially easier to get it under the hole — and if you are under the hole, it is exponentially easier to make birdie. “You need to find the slopes where it will push the ball towards the pin, not away from the pin. If you let Royal Melbourne give you things it will, if you fight it … it will punish you every time. You can’t force it.â€� 3. Play to the front yardage, not the hole. Underestimate the bounce factor at your peril. If the ball looks like it’s all over the pin at Royal Melbourne, there is a good chance it won’t stay there. Says Ogilvy: “You have to be used to landing the ball short of the hole and having it bounce up. We are so used to getting the pin number and then taking the corresponding club and just fly it to the hole on the PGA TOUR where you can stick it or spin it back. “At Royal Melbourne, if the number is 170 [yards], you might be flying it 150. This is something all professional golfers can do but as we don’t do it as often, it is a skill you have to get back again and sharpen up in quick time. “Firm greens are always a challenge. When you are in the rough … it isn’t chip out rough … it’s flyer rough and that takes all the control off the ball. If you send it too far then the ball hits the green and just scoots through.â€� 4. Remember to stay clear of the dead zones. Says Ogilvy: “There are six or seven holes with spots that if you end up in them around the greens … you’ll be lucky to find the green at all with your chip shot or putt. Now I’m not going to give away where these all are but there are some obvious examples we’ve seen over the years where it is very difficult to get up and down. In the right place you are looking at a three or four on your card. The wrong place, it’s a six or a seven … that is the magnitude.â€� While Ogilvy didn’t give up specifics ,our best guess at some obvious problem areas come early in the round on the third, fourth and fifth holes. Those greens are potentially diabolical. The 176 yard par-3 third repels balls too short and is lightning from above. The par-3 sixth is just 148 yards but miss the green and you are likely dead. Find the wrong spot on the green and prepare for a likely three-putt. And then the par-4 fourth — that green slopes so hard from back to front that if you are behind the pin, you are more likely to chip or putt it off the green and back down the fairway then you are to make birdie. 5. Sharpen up your bunker play. Well it is called the sandbelt after all. Australians grow up on the beach. Says Ogilvy: “The bunkers are really tough. Firm greens mean you need to roll out your bunker shots as you won’t get a lot of spin from them. It’s a skill that is really rewarded. A lot of guys who grow up here are revered  bunker players all around the world because they’ve seen it all and learned it all. Practice from the sand more than usual… and then practice some more.â€� 6. Find a chip and run game, with multiple clubs. You don’t always need to chip with a high loft. And even the old Texas wedge from off the green might not be the dumbest play. Says Ogilvy: “The PGA TOUR can be very much a lob wedge tour. You get your 60 degree out when you miss the green generally speaking because that is the best club to use with the majority of setups. “But around Royal Melbourne guys might chip with 3-irons, hybrids, 5-irons … you name it. Again this is a skill everybody has but they need to relearn it this week. The more you can have the ball on the ground the better.â€� 7. Take your medicine. When in trouble, find the smart play. Unless forced by an opponent’s position, the aggressive hero shot is a very small percentage option. Says Ogilvy: “You have to think much more than usual around this sort of course. And you must remain patient. You can’t force it. You have to let it come to you with smart searching. This is certainly a place you can compound errors badly. It is a course played inside your head as much as anything else. It’s tricky and awkward so you just have to play it smart to prevail.â€�

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