updated 1:07 a.m. ET April 7, 2006

AUGUSTA, Ga. - What a strange week it’s been for Tom Lehman.

It started with a routine trip to the airport, which turned terrifying when a bullet ripped through the side of his courtesy car.

Then came the opening round of the Masters, when he pulled off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants and dipped his feet into Rae’s Creek.

Lehman opened the tournament with a 4-over 76 on Thursday — a mediocre score, to be sure, but certainly understandable in light of what the U.S. Ryder Cup captain went through two days earlier.

While heading for the airport to pick up his wife, kids, other family members and friends, Lehman was the target of what appears to be a random drive-by shooting. The bullet pierced a backseat door and lodged in the seat behind the golfer, who wasn’t injured.

“It was a very, very surreal experience,” said Lehman, whose car had no markings linking it to the Masters. “You don’t have guys shooting at you very often.”

An arrest was made after a second car was fired on. Once the suspect was in custody, investigators linked the two crimes together, finding weapons and spent casings.

Lehman was driving along Bobby Jones Expressway — named after the famed golfer who co-founded Augusta National — and nearing the airport exit when the shooting occurred Tuesday night.

“I heard this huge, loud explosion,” he recalled, while standing behind the 18th green after his round. “My initial reaction was, ’Someone just shot at me.’ But the windows weren’t broken. All the wheels were intact.”

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Lehman drove to the airport, where he was able to examine the luxury SUV more closely. That’s when he found a bullet hole in the door and called police.

“I wanted to let the police know right away so this guy couldn’t hurt somebody else,” he said.

Lehman was grateful the shooting occurred on the way to the airport — and not after he picked up his family. His 10-year-old son, Thomas, could have been sitting in the seat where the bullet ended up.

“We were all joking around and looking at the car, but Thomas was very upset,” said Lehman’s wife, Melissa. “He kept asking, ’Who did that? Who did that?’ He really loves his dad.”

Lehman figures he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I think the guy was full of Jack Daniels,” the golfer said, managing a smile. “He must have had a bad day at work.”

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Lehman refused to blame his shaky start at the Masters on what happened on his way to the airport. He simply couldn’t get anything going, failing to make a birdie all day.

The par-5 13th — which played second-easiest of all the holes — epitomized the state of Lehman’s game. He positioned his tee shot in the middle of the fairway, giving him a chance to go at the green with his second shot. But he came up short, the shot settling in the creek that divides the fairway from the green.

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