ATLANTA -- Arriving to the first tee box at East Lake Golf Club before starting Thursday's opening round of the Tour Championship, Sean O'Hair felt the need to do something Tiger Woods does not."Hi," he said, extending a right hand to announcer Tom Kerbo, whose job it was to introduce each golfer to the surrounding gallery. "I'm Sean O'Hair."
That O'Hair needed to identify himself in a field of 30 golfers would be only the first thing on a hot, sunny and humid Georgia day that made him different from you know who.
O'Hair shot 4-under 66, one shot better than Woods, who is joined by Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink at 67.
It's not going to make O'Hair a household name, but hey, a guy has got to start somewhere.
"Just all-around a good round, pretty much did everything the way I needed to," this year's winner at Charlotte said following his round of six birdies and two bogeys. "Hit it really nicely off the tee. Ball was going actually a very, very long way today, and I putted it nicely."
Nevertheless, Woods remains the recognized force of the FedEx Cup playoff chase for a $10 million bonus. Of the top five players on the points list guaranteed the FedEx title with a Tour Championship victory, no one except Woods finished opening day closer than three shots of the leader.
Steve Stricker shot even-par 70. Jim Furyk finished 2-over. Zach Johnson posted 1-under 69. And Heath Slocum is at 73.
O'Hair? He's close enough to have a chance.
"I need to win and Tiger and Sticker need to finish worse that second,'' O'Hair answered without hesitation when asked if he was aware of his exact status.
It could happen, and Woods would have himself to blame -- in more ways than the obvious.
Standing on the putting green Wednesday afternoon watching O'Hair practice, Woods offered a tip. He didn't like the way O'Hair seemed to be delofting the putter and called attention to the flaw.
O'Hair finished Thursday with 136 feet and nine inches worth or made putts, the best of the day. He made a 50 footer for birdie at No. 4. His total of 28 putts, tied for fifth."I'm not even close to doing exactly what he's told me to do," O'Hair said. "I truly believe in what he said, and I think it's the key for me to take my putting to another level, because let's face it, that's kind of what's held me back for a long time. Getting advice like that from good players is obviously awesome, but getting it from basically the greatest of all time is pretty cool.
"The thing that impresses me more, we all know how good of a player he is and how great of a player he is, but I think the thing that impresses me more is the quality of guy he is. I mean, I'm his competition, and for him to help me out like he did was very classy, I thought."
Woods: Don't mention it.
"It's very simple; you always help your friends," said the world No. 1. "Sean is a friend of mine, and like all my friends, you always try to make their life better somehow. That's the whole idea of having friends in your life.
"Sean has been struggling a little bit on the greens this year, and I thought I could offer a little bit of help and insight to how he could change that. And now I'm going to go chew him out."
Woods, it seems, was able to take care of himself, too, completing a round of five birdies and two bogeys.
After a good start with birdie at No. 3, Woods fell to 1-over with bogeys at six and eight, but from there played his way back up the leaderboard. He birdied Nos. 9, 12, 13 and 15 and added a nifty par save from out of a greenside bunker at 17.
"Well, 1-under, and then I made two quick bogeys there," Woods said. "I know it's one of those things where I was just trying to get back to -- I felt if I shot under par for the day, I'd be fine. There aren't going to be a lot of guys under par. Luckily I birdied 9 and then kind of got it going on the back nine. I accomplished my goal of shooting under par for the day."
Not that O'Hair was looking over his shoulder, but the leader saw him coming. At one point, O'Hair was 5 under and Woods 1 over. Now one shot separates them.
"I mean, he's just the man," O'Hair said. "Nothing surprises me when it comes to Tiger. I don't take anything he does for granted. I mean, the thing that I've learned is that no matter what situation I'm in, I've just got to go out and play good golf. That's all there is to it. If you go out and play good golf, hopefully at the end of the day you're right there. But you're not going to play average golf against him and do anything worthwhile."
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Why would you refer to Sean O'Hair as an unexpected leader? Did you know that he is the only American born golfer under the age of 30 with more than 2 lifetime PGA victories?
If the announcer didn't know who Sean O'Hair was then he shouldn't be a golf announcer, first tee box or anywhere else!
O'Hair can flat play the game of golf, no doubt about it. He's definitely a guy to keep your eye on for the next couple years..
I agree with bkcruisenews that the headline is a little hard to figure out. I would argue that it should not be surprising for any of the golfers in this tournament to hold the lead. After all this tournament is the Tour Championship and is exclusive to the tour's top thirty players. Any golfer who has played well enough all year to be in the top thirty certainly is capable of winning this tournament. Sean O'Hair, if I am not mistaken entered the tournament ranked seventh. He is fully capable of winning this and any other tournament he enters. That he leads after the first round should not be the big surprise the headline implies.
I have been rooting for Sean O'Hair for the last couple of years. I call him a quiet gentleman. Consistant and ready to break through. Go Sean
The classy part was that Sean O'Hair didn't expect or require anyone to know who he was or fawn over him. I got the same once from Charleton Heston who turned to me, extended his hand and said, "I'm Chuck". Gratiousness and humility goes a long way in describing the depth of character of an individual. Sean has a lot of class.