Lehman Voted PGA Player of Year; Woods and Colbert Also Honored

CARLSBAD — Tom Lehman, who won the British Open and set an official earnings record in 1996, was voted player of the year by PGA Tour members, and Tiger Woods was honored as rookie of the year.

Jim Colbert was selected as the top player on the Senior PGA Tour.

Results of the voting were announced Friday night during the annual PGA Tour awards dinner at La Costa.

Lehman, who also won the Tour Championship and had the lowest scoring average on tour, beat out Phil Mickelson, a four-time winner in 1996; and Mark Brooks, who won three times, including the PGA Championship.

Other awards: John Bland was voted top rookie on the senior tour, U.S. Open winner Steve Jones was named comeback player of the year on the PGA Tour and Al Geiberger the comeback player on the senior tour.