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O'Hair Enters Tourney With Confidence Playing The Field

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 19, 2009

PALM HARBOR - Defending tournament champion Sean O'Hair is entering this week's Transitions Championship at Innisbrook with a completely different mind-set than a year ago.

"Last year my mind-set coming into this week was to find my game. You know, I was playing awful," O'Hair said. "But this year I've been playing really well and I think for me right now, it's just trying to keep those expectations, lower them a little bit, because obviously I feel very comfortable on this course."

O'Hair has played some of the best golf of his PGA Tour career through the early part of the 2009 season. After undergoing a complete overhaul on his swing during the offseason, O'Hair has finished in the top 25 in all six tour events he has played; three times, he has finished in the top 10.

He has yet to find the winner's circle since his last trip to Innisbrook's Copperhead Course, but O'Hair believes another win - or a few - could be on the horizon.

"I think it's just a matter of having that week where everything starts kind of getting some momentum going and you pull it off," said O'Hair, who has two career PGA Tour wins. "But I definitely feel that my game is in a position where I can win not just once, not just twice but maybe a few times this year. So I'm pretty excited."

STRIPPED DOWN

Henrik Stenson made headlines when he stripped down to his underwear to play a shot last week at Doral, and PGA commissioner Tim Finchem took notice.

While Finchem said "it wouldn't be my favorite thing to see a player do" and that he "would hope that there's no reoccurrence of it," he added he understood Stenson's actions considering the Swedish golfer's position on the course. Finchem also added he didn't hear any backlash regarding the incident.

"The overall reaction seemed to be sort of ho-hum from fans. We didn't get any e-mails screaming that he had done something immoral or anything," Finchem said. "So it just seemed to be a funny, one-off thing. He's a charming fellow. I did get a kick out of, I guess his wife asked him not to do it again, on 18, which I thought was sound advice."

CHIP SHOTS

Former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell (shoulder) withdrew from the field Wednesday. He was replaced by Jimmy Walker. ... O'Hair's group that included Jim Berges, Thomas Usher and former Bucs linebacker Shelton Quarles won Wednesday's Transitions Championship Pro-Am by a stroke with a 12-under 59.

Adam Adkins

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