Columnist Adam Candee: Lehman choice hardly inspiring, but might work

Adam Candee

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004 | 9:54 a.m.

Adam Candee covers golf for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

This news just in -- from last week: Tom Lehman named next Ryder Cup captain. Photos unavailable, as Steve Williams confiscated all cameras in sight.

Lehman succeeding Hal Sutton as the Ryder Cup captain for the 2006 matches in Ireland does not inspire or excite. Frankly, neither does Lehman by personality alone.

But Lehman is a decided switch from Sutton in personality and really, could that be such a bad thing for a United States team that played with monk-like enthusiasm in September's embarrassing loss at Oakland Hills?

A subdued and determined player who fought through the ranks to become a standout on tour, Lehman played on the controversial 1999 team at Brookline that rankled the Europeans with its celebration of Justin Leonard's memorable putt. He is still a decent player if and when his putter is on, but Lehman's most useful purpose in 2006 is obviously as a captain.

Sutton tried the rah-rah approach and beyond the obvious on the scoreboard, just look at Chris Riley's situation to see how well that worked. If the United States wants to cobble together a team every couple of years -- and don't try to sell me any bill of goods that involves the Presidents Cup -- then the team bonding angle won't play with players bred for an individual sport.

Camaraderie? Sure, it can happen, but it's probably not worth shooting for what the Europeans showed. It's just not natural at this point. Focus on what you actually do better than them everywhere but in the Ryder Cup -- play golf.

So maybe Lehman, with an intensity that does not burn so much as it simmers, is the right guy to work with the diverse personalities and egos. Maybe instead of fruitlessly trying to rally everyone, he can just rally one someone at a time.

And maybe I'm totally wrong and Lehman is not the inspiration that this situation cries out to find. But for what it's worth, the PGA moved quickly on this one and given the stakes, it's not an easy decision.

Set against the backdrop of the 2004 debacle, any improvement will be a big one.

As reported by Golfweek's Lance Ringler, Las Vegas will host the Butch Harmon Vegas Tour next summer. With a buy-in of $25,000, the three-month mini-tour will travel around Clark County for 15 events in the absolute brutality of 100-degree summer heat.

Ringler -- who is married to UNLV women's golf coach Missy Ringler, in case you didn't know -- reports that the buy-in can be split by two players who can share entries, and entries that would otherwise go unused can be sold. The tour will be included in Golfweek's performance index of mini-tours.

Beginning June 7 at Rio Secco -- where Harmon's golf school is housed -- the mini-tour for young pros looking to cut their teeth on the way up the ranks will feature fields of 156 players, with purses of $175,000 and a winner's cut of $32,000. All events except the four-round championship will be 54 holes, with the tour's leading money winner earning a free trip to PGA tour qualifying school.

Harmon will donate any profits from the tour to the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association. And you won't believe it, but the SNJGA announced that its series will now be called the Butch Harmon Junior Championship Series. That's synergy, folks.

Who knows how long it will last -- mini-tours are infamously unstable -- but the Harmon name lends instant credibility and the hope for a real future. And lord knows the courses can use the action at that time of year.