O’Hair rode to top on bus, grit and love

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/05/2009 (6322 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Sean O’Hair became the youngest player on the PGA Tour with at least three victories when he rallied to win at Quail Hollow. Just don’t get the idea that the 26-year-old lacks much life experience.

With his baby face, slender build and a gullible grin, he looks like he is fresh out of college.

It is hard to believe that O’Hair turned pro 10 years ago, when his estranged father persuaded him to drop out of high school a year early as part of his master plan to develop a champion.

Or that he accepted a handshake and a hug from Tiger Woods while holding his oldest daughter, a precocious four-year-old named Molly. He has an 18-month-old son Luke and his wife is expecting their third child next month.

His education was like few others on the PGA Tour.

Kevin Na also skipped his senior year of high school in California and got his card through Q-school two years later. Ty Tryon earned his card at age 17, still a junior in high school. After a few unproductive years on tour, he hasn’t been heard from since.

What makes O’Hair different, and what makes him appreciate what he has, is how he got here — in a bus.

It was a Fleetwood Discovery that his grandparents helped him buy so he and his bride Jackie could travel mini-tours, from the West Coast to New England.

“I remember being on the Gateway Tour in ’04 and having $2,000 in our bank account, and we didn’t have enough money to play in any tournaments in the summer,” O’Hair said Sunday. “We were playing for a meal ticket for the next week. I mean, it was actually that tough. We constantly talk about that stuff and reminisce.

“I think that’s the stuff that makes this so sweet,” he said.

Most players only needed to find the golf course. O’Hair also had to find a place to park the bus.

His choice of a “hotel” usually was a Wal-Mart parking lot, although there was that RV park in Arkansas when a tornado passed less than 10 kilometres from where they were staying, and the time in North Carolina when a lightning storm settled over their bus for three hours.

His wife waited outside the tennis courts at Quail Hollow until O’Hair finished his media obligations, trying to get a handle on Molly’s constant chatter and Luke’s penchant for exploring. Jackie is eight months pregnant, and the stifling afternoon heat didn’t add to the comfort level.

They met on the range in South Florida, a time when O’Hair was breaking away from a father who once made him run a mile for every bogey on his card during his junior golf days. She played in college, and a few years ago during the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, she shot 76 from the men’s tees at Cypress Point.

Even living cheque-to-cheque, she never lost hope that O’Hair was on the right track.

“The one thing about him is he never gives up,” Jackie said. “Even when he’s on his way to an 80, he’ll be trying to birdie the next hole. He always believed in himself, his team and his talent.”

— The Associated Press