PGA Tour sixth alternate co-leads in Canada regardless of wild journey delays

A panicked Sean O’Hair was stranded in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday due to extreme climate delays.

He had simply obtained a name from the PGA Tour, through which an official knowledgeable him that he had made it into the RBC Canadian Open discipline. A number of different tour professionals had withdrawn, bumping him up the alternate record and ultimately into the event. Subsequently, the tour felt obligated to tell O’Hair that he wanted to make his strategy to Canada.

O’Hair, who lives in Lubbock, has 4 PGA Tour wins to his title, along with his most up-to-date triumph coming in 2011, when he received the RBC Canadian Open. However he couldn’t catch a flight out of his hometown all day on Tuesday, so he hopped in a automobile very first thing Wednesday morning and drove 5 hours to Dallas, the place a airplane to Canada awaited him.

He ultimately made it to Hamilton by Wednesday night, however he didn’t have time to play a apply spherical earlier than his Thursday morning tee time.

Nevertheless it didn’t matter.

O’Hair went out and carded a 7-under 63 for his opening spherical, as he sits atop the leaderboard tied with Sam Burns via 18 holes.

“I used to be lucky sufficient to get right here. I used to be exhausted,” O’Hair stated after.

Photograph by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Photos

“I used to be in a fog in the present day as a result of I used to be simply so drained, but it surely labored out.”

Certainly, it did.

O’Hair rode his sizzling putter, making 5 birdies over his first 12 holes. He then eagled the seventeenth, due to a 27-foot bomb he made on Hamilton Golf & Nation Membership’s remaining par-5.

“It’s a fairly tight driving gap, so I simply form of lower a driver off that left bunker there and pulled it off,” O’Hair stated of 17.

“Then, I hit a extremely good 5-wood to the center of the inexperienced. I used to be capable of be aggressive with the eagle putt as a result of it was up the hill. Simply broke a bit of proper and went proper within the middle. That was good.”

O’Hair, like Rory McIlroy, performed the course blind. However his caddie arrived earlier within the week and walked the course quite a few occasions.

“There wasn’t a lot of a sport plan. I’ve form of put the sport plan on him, and he simply guided me on the market in the present day,” O’Hair stated.

“I belief him doing that. He does a extremely good job of charting the programs for me. I simply trusted him in the present day, and it labored.”

Regardless that he closely relied on his looper, O’Hair nonetheless admitted to feeling uncomfortable on the market.

“I wish to be ready. However I didn’t have an choice. I believe whenever you don’t actually have an choice, and also you’re form of making an enormous deal about it, it nearly hurts you,” O’Hair stated.

“I simply stated, ‘Look, I don’t actually count on an entire lot in the present day.’ I haven’t actually been enjoying that nice both, so to come back out right here and shoot the rating I did in the present day was positively form of a shocker for me. Experience it out, I assume, so long as I can.”

O’Hair could have time on Thursday afternoon to lastly settle in, however the final man within the discipline will relaxation fortunately, figuring out his title sits atop the leaderboard.

Hopefully, for his sake, he can maintain it going over the following 54 holes.

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. Remember to take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.