Patience pays off for O'Hair

Things just were not going well last spring and early summer on the PGA Tour for Sean O'Hair. He felt his golf game was improving but it didn't show in the results.

He had missed 9 of 12 cuts, including the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club - his home course - and at the British Open, where he doubled-bogeyed the 36th hole at Royal St. George to finish 1 off the needed number.

He felt patience and "staying in the moment" would lead to some success, and it happened rather unexpectedly the week after the British in late July when he captured the Canadian Open in a playoff, his first tour victory in 26 months.

"It's tough to sit there and say, 'OK, I am getting better, I've just got to be patient with it," O'Hair said Monday at White Manor Country Club in Malvern, where he gave a short-game clinic at the FORE Health Invitational, a benefit for Chester County Hospital.

"Finally, I saw the results pay off. I actually played well at the British Open; missing the cut there was disappointing. But then I saw the dividends pay off the following week, and it was nice to have that reassurance that my game was improving and to see the results happen."

Starting with the Canadian Open, O'Hair has made the cut in six of his last seven events, including two of three tournaments in the FedEx Cup playoffs. His tie for 15th at last weekend's McGladrey Classic was his best finish other than his win.

He feels he can learn from what he called a "character-building year" that has two events remaining - this week's Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic at Disney World, and the Franklin Templeton Shootout in December.

"I really changed at how I look at my game and how I look at things," he said. "At the beginning of the year, my attitude wasn't the best. I looked at things from a negative standpoint, always looked at what was wrong with my game instead of what's good and how I can improve.

"That has helped me so much in the last half of the year, improving my attitude on how I look at my game and my life. So it's been a little bit of a life-changing experience this year, to say the least."

O'Hair said he will devote December to working with his coach, Steve Dahlby, and his sports psychologist, Gio Valiante, in Florida and Arizona. He said a change for him as he approaches 2012 will be to not set goals for himself.

"I'm going to go out and each day try to improve," he said. "I'm going to work hard and whatever happens, happens, just go with the flow. I'm not going to go out there and say, 'I want to win a golf tournament' or 'I want to make the Ryder Cup team' or this or that. I'm just going to go out and play."

O'Hair is excited to have two events secured for 2012 - the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which will kick off a two-week stay in Hawaii, and the Masters.

"It's just a huge reward," he said. "I can't really explain how good it feels. You can stink for 30 tournaments in a year, and in that one tournament, you're extraordinary and you can win. That's what's so great about this game."

O'Hair was making his third straight appearance at the fund-raiser for Chester County Hospital, where his two youngest children were born. His $50,000 donation last year helped the facility purchase infant resuscitators.