A Silver Lining for Sean O’Hair

While some of the big names faded and the showdown of the “Big Five” hasn’t materialized, some of the PGA Tour’s lesser known stars are shining this weekend at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Sean O’Hair is one of them. In his rookie season, the 324th-ranked O’Hair has had to overcome major hurdles in his quest for success among the world’s best.

His father, Marc O’Hair, once said, “I look at Sean as my son. I look at him as a business also. He likes that.” It was Marc who invested over $2 million in his son’s game having urged his him to drop out of high school to pursue his dream of being a professional golfer. Sean and his father Marc haven’t spoken in two years because of Marc’s family-business attitude.

A silver lining emerged from Sean’s clouded past today. He leads by a stroke at 12-under. “I’m happy with how I’ve learned from week to week and I think this is just a product of that,” said O’Hair. “As each round goes on through the year I learn something new and meet new people. Its just great being out here and its a dream come true.”

2004 British Open champion and last year’s PGA Rookie of the Year Todd Hamilton played well today carding a 65 and is alone in second place. Six birdies and only one bogey has put him in great position going into round four. Hamilton said, “This has been a very good week for me. I came into this tournament kind of burnt out. For some reason I feel very relaxed here. It’s still my second year. Its still exciting. I’m playing golf courses for only the second time and just having a good time.”

Tied for third were Doug Barron, Scott Verplank, and Ted Purdy. Verplank is the highest ranked player in the top ten, at No. 22. “I finished very strong, birdieing the last three holes,” Verplank said. “It kind of took a day I felt like I was treading water and put an exclamation point on it at the end.” Ted Purdy is hoping for a break out weekend having been disappointed with some of his weekend rounds this year. Purdy said, “I think I’m going to sleep a little better because I’m a couple back. I’m looking foreword to tomorrow.”

Fading today was second round co-leader Brett Wetterich who shot a 73 and fell to 13th place, tied with 8 other players. Among the nine tied for 13th place was Stuart Appleby, the first round leader.

As for the “Big Five” Showdown, the closest of the five to the lead is Vijay Singh. He is six strokes off the lead. We learned recently that a six shot lead isn’t necessarily safe with Vijay in the field. Singh was T13 after saving par with 8-foot birdie putt on 18. He will likely regain the number one spot in the world, a position he has worked hard to achieve. It is impressive to see a guy like Singh compete week after week and get the kind of results that he does. No one can say he hasn’t worked for it.

This is the first weekend since 1998 that Tiger won’t be roaming the fairways after a start. Tiger established a record of 142 consecutive cuts. The irony was that his streak ended at the Byron Nelson. It was Nelson’s streak of 113 consecutive cuts during the 1940s that Tiger had surpassed.

With as much air time as the top ten to twenty get (and they deserve it) it is refreshing to see some young players out in front, getting their day in the spotlight.

Pos  Player             Tot    R1    R2    R3
1    Sean O'Hair        -12    66    65    67
2    Todd Hamilton      -11    67    67    65
T3   Doug Barron        -10    69    66    65
T3   Scott Verplank     -10    68    67    65
T3   Ted Purdy          -10    65    67    68
T6   Jaxon Brigman      -8     72    66    64
T6   Bob Tway           -8     68    68    66
T6   Shigeki Maruyama   -8     67    67    68
T9   Jay Williamson     -7     67    70    66
T9   J.J. Henry         -7     67    69    67

Photo Credit: © AP.