Clearly better times ahead for Lehman

On this occasion the runner-up did matter. Though Tim Herron had reason to be proud of his play-off victory in the Bay Hill Invitational last Sunday, one suspects that the revival of Tom Lehman will adopt far greater significance as the season progresses.

In forcing the play-off, which he lost at the second tie-hole, Lehman showed himself to be almost fully recovered from the shoulder damage he sustained last July. That was when he came to grief while playing with his children prior to the British Open at Royal Birkdale, where he failed to make the cut.

An ill-conceived piece of fatherly bravado, involving an attempted handstand, led to months of pain before Lehman underwent surgery at the end of last November. Prior to Bay Hill, his only activity this season had been in losing a first round match in the Matchplay Championship at La Costa and finishing last of the qualifiers in the Honda Classic nine days ago.

"My shoulder is still only 80 per cent, so I have to be pleased with the way I played," said the 1996 British Open champion. Then there was the not-inconsiderable financial factor of boosting his tournament earnings from a modest $29,654 to $299,654 for 32nd place in the current US money list.

Lehman, who celebrated his 40th birthday earlier this month, won't be pleased to have drawn a blank in two play-offs on tour - he also lost to Tiger Woods in the Mercedes Championships last year - and to be without a win since Loch Lomond in 1997. But there are clearly better times ahead and he will be a strong contender for this week's Players' Championship at Sawgrass.

As usual, there is a particularly strong European entry here. It is: Seve Ballesteros, Darren Clarke, Nick Faldo, Gabriel Hjertstedt, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, JoseMaria Olazabal, Jesper Parnevik, Lee Westwood and Ian Woosnam.

With all these big guns on the other side of the Atlantic, the entry for the Stg-£350,000 (€490,000) Madeira Island Open is predictably low key. In fact there are only two Irish challengers, Padraig Harrington and Des Smyth. Paul McGinley was among the original entries but has since revised his schedule to be with his wife, Allison, and their new-born daughter, Niamh.

An interesting inclusion among the sponsors' invitees is Justin Rose, who is now chasing his first cut as a professional at the 16th attempt. Since his professional debut in the Dutch Open last July, Rose has missed 12 cuts in Europe and three others in Australia and New Zealand.

His last failure was in the Portuguese Open earlier this month when, needing to cover his closing two holes in one over par, he proceeded to card two bogeys to miss out by a stroke. Madeira adopts particular importance for him, as sponsors' invitations are certain to dry up with the arrival of the season's more lucrative tournaments.

Meanwhile, European performances at Bay Hill were hardly illuminating in that the four players who made the cut - Montgomerie, Langer, Woosnam and Westwood - all carded closing rounds of 79. But they have a stronger tradition at Sawgrass, where Montgomerie was second to Fred Couples in 1996; Langer was runner-up up to Lee Janzen in 1995 and to Nick Price in 1993; Faldo was tied second behind Davis Love in 1992 and Sandy Lyle was victorious in 1987.

Among this week's challengers, it is to be hoped that Ballesteros can find some glimpse of his old form, if only to mark a rather special ceremony yesterday. A year after he was scheduled to accept the honour, the Spaniard was inducted into golf's Hall of Fame, arising from the 1997 international ballot.

In the opening two rounds at Bay Hill last week, Ballesteros played with the host, Arnold Palmer. Both of them missed the cut, but Palmer generously described his partner as "the greatest of all time".

For his part, Ballesteros was clearly touched by the latest honour to be bestowed on him, even if his confidence on the course remains at a very low ebb. "There is nothing better in life than to be recognised for who you are and what you have done," he said. "That is why being in the Hall of Fame is very special. I've been lucky and done some great things over the last 25 years. I'm happy."

Of the current European crop, Westwood is rated highly in the US for his directness and casual demeanour, quite apart from his undoubted golfing talent. And looking towards the challenge of Sawgrass, he said: "It's nice that people think I'm a serious player. It proves to me that I'm on the right lines, which can only give me confidence."

He went on: "The funny thing is that I don't need to be confident to win. I've had victories on a few occasions after playing terribly on the practice ground. The important thing right now is that I can feel my game coming back slowly."

Clarke would like to echo those thoughts, especially after missing cuts in the Andalucia Masters in Malaga, followed by Bay Hill. His wife and son have joined him in the US, where he will take a break next week to complete his preparation for the US Masters, in which he finished a splendid eighth on his debut 12 months ago.

Justin Leonard is this week defending a title he captured with a 10-under-par aggregate last year from Lehman and Glen Day, who shared second place. Since first used in 1982, when Jerry Pate captured the title, this Pete Dye-designed layout has developed a fine reputation as an iron-player's course.

With small, plateau greens set at an angle either right to left or left to right, it demands precise approach play. Just the sort of venue to get players in the mood for Augusta.