Tip pays off for O’Hair
Heeding Woods stroke of genius
ATLANTA - Given a welcome break from the PGA Tour last week after five tournaments in a six-week stretch, Sean O’Hair did what came naturally: He played golf for six straight days.
Rotating among three courses near Philadelphia, O’Hair enjoyed his buddy golf, getting together with friends, grabbing lunch, then hopping in a cart and just playing, free from the pressure and the practice grind that comes with a typical tournament week.
Unfortunately, O’Hair’s playing partners got in his wallet a bit, so he might be even more motivated coming to East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship, which pays $1.35 million to the winner and $10 million to the
“I was giving them too many shots. They were winning the bets on the first tee,’’ O’Hair said. “I lost a lot of money last week, but that’s OK. It was fun.’’
So was yesterday, when he shot a 4-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead on Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink, and Padraig Harrington. Making his second appearance in this exclusive 30-player field, O’Hair established himself as the man to catch after one round, using a blistering front nine and a timely putting tip to take the lead. He shot 31 on the front and made five birdies over his first 12 holes, including a 56-footer from the back of the green on No. 4.
O’Hair, who won the Quail Hollow Championship earlier this year and was tied for the lead going into the final round of the
“I need a win, and Tiger and [Steve] Stricker, I think, need to finish worse than second,’’ O’Hair said.
It would be dramatic and perhaps ironic if it came down to O’Hair and Woods on Sunday, since Woods is the one who gave O’Hair the putting tip Wednesday. Good friends, the two were preparing for the tournament when Woods spotted something in O’Hair’s backstroke.
“I think it’s the key for me to kind of take my putting to another level, because let’s face it, that’s kind of what’s held me back for a long time,’’ said O’Hair, who took 28 swipes with the blade yesterday and holed 140 feet worth of putts. “Getting advice like that from good players is obviously awesome, but getting it from basically the greatest of all time is pretty cool. I mean, I’m his competition, and for him to help me out like he did was very classy, I thought.’’
Woods wouldn’t say it was a classy gesture, just a friendly one.
“It’s very simple: You always help your friends,’’ Woods said. “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.’’
Told that O’Hair made a 50-footer, Woods then joked, “Yeah, I’m going to go chew him out right now.’’
For a time yesterday, Woods trailed O’Hair by six shots after making bogeys on Nos. 6 and 8 to drop to 1 over. But a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth hole brought him back to even par, and three birdies on his inward nine drew him within one. There’s lots of different ways for Woods to win the FedEx Cup, but a win guarantees it.
“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,’’ Woods said. “Luckily I birdied No. 9 and then kind of got it going on the back nine.’’
Eight players broke par, including Cink, the British Open champion, Georgia Tech graduate, and Atlanta resident who estimates he’s played East Lake 60 times. He’s never finished in the top 10 in the five times he’s competed here in the Tour Championship, but the 67 matches his best start.
“I think in the past I’ve tried to combine the rest of my life that goes on when I’m having an off week here with having a tournament, and it’s just been a little bit too much,’’ Cink said. “I wanted to come and just play a golf tournament this week and sort of forget about everything going on at home.’’
Off in the third group of the day because he’s 26th in the points standings, Cink also shot 31 on the front nine, and like O’Hair bogeyed No. 13.
Harrington made four birdies in his own front-nine 31, but took two swings from a greenside bunker on the par-5 15th, which led to his only bogey.
There is no 36-hole cut at this event, and players will be re-paired after every round by score, so O’Hair and Cink will be in the last group today, right behind Woods and Harrington.
Michael Whitmer can be reached at mwhitmer@globe.com 
