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West Chester’s Sean O’Hair has the talent—and the story—to become a PGA star.
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The golf world needs new heroes. And perhaps none of the sport’s youngest stars has the potential to become as much of a fan favorite as Sean O’Hair. The 26-year-old pro is at a crossroads in what could be an awesome career. But there’s so much more to the story—and O’Hair’s is a particularly compelling one.
Just in time for Father’s Day, O’Hair is expecting his third child this month. And these days, he’s better able to revisit the wretched relationship he had with his own dad and move on.
“I was misguided by my father,” says O’Hair, who lives in Pocopson Township. “I wasn’t good enough to turn pro. When you’re 17, you don’t know what you’re good at, and I was sheltered as a kid. I was thrown into a grown-up world and told to make a living. I trusted my dad.”
While he admits Marc O’Hair was tough on him, Sean still attests that there were good times—and that his father, above all else, instilled in him that mediocrity isn’t acceptable. He still lives by that competitive drive.
There’s a vast variety of PGA Tour players. Some struggle just to keep their playing cards. They usually age quickly and fade fast because of the stress. Others play well, rarely win events, but still make up to $1.5 million a year. They’re usually content. Then there’s the stratosphere Tiger Woods has defined.
“You can look at him and all he’s accomplished, and he still wants to improve and get better every year,” O’Hair says.
Seven years Woods’ junior, O’Hair is already in his 10th professional season and his fifth on the PGA Tour. He enjoyed a $1.17 million win last month at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, N.C., five weeks after blowing a five-shot lead against Woods at Bay Hill’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. He won’t play locally again until next year’s AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, where he’s a member.
O’Hair spends the most time at Concord Country Club in Concordville. He’s also a member at the Ace Center Golf Course in Conshohocken and Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington. He’s coached by Nike Golf Canada’s Sean Foley. His caddy is former PGA golfer Paul Tesori, who once worked for veteran Vijay Singh.
“I have a great guy on my bag, a great coach, and I’m definitely headed in the right direction,” says O’Hair. “I’m just now learning why I’m good, and how I can become the player I want to become. I’m learning about the game and myself at the same time.”
O’Hair also is keenly aware of his responsibilities as a family man. At the time of this interview, he was just back from two weeks in Hawaii—home for a week, then off to Scottsdale, Ariz. That morning, his wife, Jackie, had expressed her frustration. “It feels like you just got here, and now you’re leaving Monday for another week,” she said.
Their 4-year-old daughter, Molly, too, is beginning to ask where Daddy goes all the time.
“I don’t know anything else or any other way,” O’Hair says. “If I wasn’t golfing, maybe I’d be a racecar driver. I don’t work in an office and then come home each night. But there are perks: I’m providing a nice lifestyle for my wife and kids. I’m proud of that, and I still love what I do.”
Starting in 1999, O’Hair entered the PGA Tour Qualifying School, but he was unsuccessful in his first five attempts. He played on various developmental tours: the Nationwide Tour, the third-level Gateway Tour in the Southwest, and the Cleveland Golf Pro Tour. He made the cut in only four of his 18 starts on Nationwide, earning just $59,844.
By 2004, he was traveling with Jackie—who was also his caddie—in a motor home they bought with their wedding money. That year, he finally made it through qualifying school.
