O'Hair not expecting edge at familiar Aronimink

WEST CHESTER'S Sean O'Hair is a member at Aronimink. But when the fourth AT & T National tees off there on Thursday, he's not sure how much of an edge that will actually give him.

"When I think of my home course, I think of Concord," said O'Hair, who is coming off a tie for 12th at Pebble Beach on Father's Day, his best finish in four U.S. Opens and second-highest finish in 18 majors. "They've been with me since Day 1, all that stuff.

"To be honest, I don't play [Aronimink] very much. So I don't think I'm at a huge advantage. I just think I know the course a little bit, as far as the layout, what clubs I want to hit off tees. As for the greens, which is what that place is all about, I don't know them like the back of my hand or anything.

"It's a walking golf course. You have to take a caddie. The last thing I want to do when I go home is do what I do on the road. If I want to play a round, I want to jump in a cart and zoom around. That's it. That's not really the place for that. The reason why I joined is the practice facilities and the conditions of the course."

Fair enough. Nevertheless, he's the only local player in the field. That must count for something.

"It's going to be awesome," O'Hair insisted. "It's really going to be a lot of fun to have all my friends coming out. A lot of guys from Concord are going to be there. I can sleep in my own bed, which is really, really nice. And since I guess I'm the only guy from around here, it'll be interesting to see if I get a different-sized crowd than I normally do."

Jim Furyk, who hosted the 1-day Exelon Invitational for 11 years starting in 1999, was born in West Chester and raised in Lancaster. Which kind of makes him one of ours, too.

"The funny thing about Jim is, he's from like five or six different places," O'Hair said with a smile. "I've never seen a guy whose hometown is everywhere. I don't get it."

What he does understand is that, like it or not, he's the one everyone's going to seek out when they've got a question.

"A couple of guys have asked me, 'Hey, how's the course,' " O'Hair acknowledged. "Old-school Donald Ross, phenomenal. It's almost disappointing [that] a lot of the guys you'd want to show up probably aren't coming. Hopefully, we'll get a decent turnout this year, and next year it'll be an even better event. Once more of the guys hear what kind of course it is . . .

"I just think it's traditional. We don't play on courses like this all the time. When we do, it's a treat. It's really just a handful that are like this. [But] this is a whole different deal, takes it to another level. This is a major championship golf course."

The U.S. Open is returning to Merion in 2013, for the first time in 32 years. Aronimink was scheduled to host the PGA Championship in 1993, but had to bow out because it didn't conform to minority membership policies at the time. This is the first time the PGA Tour has come to this region since the second Pennsylvania Classic at Waynesborough in 2002. Aronimink will again be the venue next year for the National, before the tourney heads back to Congressional in suburban Washington. O'Hair thinks the players are going to like Aronimink better.

"We need a full-event here," O'Hair said, echoing the sentiments of many. "We're one of the top five markets in the country, we've got a lot of businesses, this is obviously a golf town. And a sports town. I think this area has been dying, fanwise, to have this kind of tournament. Why wouldn't it?

"Hopefully it all goes over well, and this is the start of something like that. I hope this can get sponsors to see the value this tournament's going to bring to the community and somebody steps to the plate. That would be nice."

Naturally, it would be even nicer if Tiger Woods, who's finally making his Philly golfing debut, could make this an annual stop as well.

"Tiger brings a whole other level to a tournament," said O'Hair, who has played his share of practice rounds with the man who has won 14 majors. "Just his presence wakes up the fans, [generates] more energy, the whole 9 yards. Obviously, he's had an impact on the world of golf. He brings it to the table.

"I think we feel like [having] Tiger is a great thing. The reason why he overshadows everybody is he's better than everybody else. He's earned that right. I have no problem with it."

Just as he had no issues getting around Aronimink the other time he competed there. That was 13 years ago, at the U.S. Junior Amateur, where he reached the semifinal matches before running into 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman.

"It was a completely different golf course then [before a renovation], a tree-lined golf course," recalled O'Hair, whose wife Jackie is due to deliver the couple's fourth child in January. "I'd just turned 15. Couldn't hit it out of my shadow. The course was very long, and it was wet that week. I was getting up and down from trash cans. It was enjoyable. That was really my first big event as a junior. Just a huge week for me.

"I seem to remember [Immelman] beat me so bad, I don't think he remembers who he beat. I reminded him of that, I don't know if it was last year or whatever. He was like, 'That was you?' So, anyway, that was a fun week."

Now, he just wants to experience it all over again.

"I would love to play well," O'Hair said. "I feel comfortable. I'm not nervous about it at all. I'm just going to have a good time with it, embrace the fact that it's never happened to me before. I'm not going to be like, 'Oh my God, I've got to perform.' I think some guys feel that way.

"The only big thing I have to do is get as many tickets as I can. What's the max, and go from there. Hopefully, I can get a few extra. Then I'm letting the girls [Jackie and her mother] handle the dishing out. I'm having the TaylorMade guys over for a cookout [tonight]. It's going to be very laid back. The thing is, I've played my best when I'm relaxed . . .

"It'll be cool. My buddies are going to break my [bleep] whether I win or miss the cut. They're always breaking them."

Sometimes, it's those familiar reinforcements that matter most. *