After rough finish at THE PLAYERS, O'Hair is fine, thanks  PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent DUBLIN, Ohio -- The quadruple bogey he suffered on the penultimate hole of THE PLAYERS Championship earlier this month was supposed to haunt Sean O'Hair. It was supposed to ruin him, make him doubt his talents, make him a tragic figure in the annals of golf. Whatever.  Sean O'Hair has bounced back nicely after a rough finish at THE PLAYERS. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
Hey, the only 17th hole that was annoying O'Hair Thursday was at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where, after a poor drive, he made a bogey on the way to an opening 7-under-par 65 in the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. Playing alongside Charles Howell III and Ted Purdy, O'Hair made the only bogey in the threesome. Purdy shot a bogey-free 68 and Howell a 69. "I've never heard of anything like that," O'Hair said with a grin. I apologized to those guys for making that bogey because that would have been pretty cool -- no bogeys in the group." What's cooler is that predictions of O'Hair's demise were greatly exaggerated. Grossly even. O'Hair might have crashed down the stretch in THE PLAYERS Championship in a head-to-head battle with Phil Mickelson, but his 65 in his first round since then is an indication that his game is as sound as it was Sunday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. He shares the first round lead with Rod Pampling in Jack Nicklaus' swanky invitational and he was the least surprised of all to be in that lofty position. "I think people just look at the results on 17 (at TPC Sawgrass), and they don't sit there and say, 'He hit the shot he wanted to hit,'" O'Hair, 26, said. "I stood up on that tee, and I was going right for the pin, and I hit it right over the pin, and I felt like I hit the shot the way I wanted to, and I was shocked that it went in the water." Winner of the 2005 John Deere Classic, O'Hair trailed Mickelson by two strokes when he took dead aim at the hole on the famed par-3 island green 17th hole. His 9-iron was pure and accurate, but a rush of adrenaline resulted in the shot going over the green and into the water. Another shot in the water left him back in a tie for seventh place, but not in any way damaged. "It would have been different if I'm going for the middle of the green and I shove it way right and knock in it the water and choke, but I didn't," O'Hair said. "The tournament didn't end the way I wanted it, but it was a great experience. I felt like, hey, I can hit the shots when I need to. I think that says a lot, especially on that stage, such a big tournament, and playing with the second-best player in the world." O'Hair said he dwelled on the disappointment until Tuesday, and hadn't thought about it since. That was apparent Thursday at Muirfield Village, where he got on a roll from the start. The 107-player field had its way in general on a course softened by high humidity, but O'Hair enjoyed an exceptional round.
"It's not like I was trying to go out and shoot 7-under par. I'm just picking out my targets and trying to hit the golf shot. It's kind of the same thing at the TPC, whether it's at the pin or 10 feet right of the pin or 20 feet right of the pin ... I'm just picking out the targets and hitting it there. Just got to be patient, and it was nice that the putts were falling for me today." Those putts didn't fall at THE PLAYERS, but O'Hair chalks up the whole week to gaining experience, which could help him in the future. It sure didn't hurt Thursday. "That experience was my second at THE PLAYERS. I like the course and look forward to the future in that tournament," O'Hair said. "People expect the 17th to be a negative. I played pretty solid for 70 holes, and that has no effect. When people ask me about it, it's two weeks ago. I'm playing in the Memorial this week. So I'm going to try and win the Memorial." He's off to a fine start. Pretty good for a guy who is ruined. |
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