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O'Hair has four wins on the PGA Tour, but his last win came during the 2011 season. His blueprint for success since then has been simple. Pick up a runner-up somewhere, sprinkle-in a handful of top-10s and voila, a million-plus in your pocket and a PGA Tour card. O'Hair appeared destined for greatness early in his career, but that extra gear, which helped him win four times on the PGA Tour appears out of reach now. That said, O'Hair played in only 22 events last season, down from an average of 26 in his previous three seasons and it would make sense that if he were to play a bit more this season, his numbers would increase. He's about as reliable as they come, but his upside is limited. Expect slightly better numbers this season, but nothing significant.
2009 was a banner year for O'Hair as he recorded a win, a runner-up and nine total top-10s on this way to more than $4 million in earnings. We haven't seen that version of O'Hair since however. To his credit, O'Hair has now managed a runner-up showing in each of his past three season and he's easily topped $1 million in each of those years, but it appears as though his upside is in the past. O'Hair also posted his most top-10s (five), since that 2009 season, but he hasn't cracked the $2 million mark in nearly a decade, so there's little reason to think he'll do it this year.
O'Hair inexplicably hit the skids during the 2013 season and didn't pull out of it until the 2015 season. He backed that up with another strong season last year, which bodes well for his prospects heading forward. The question regarding O'Hair is, can he get back to his peak level in 2009 when he topped $4 million in earnings, or will he continue in his current range for the foreseeable future? Considering that he hasn't topped $2 million in earnings since 2009, it's likely that his level of play over the past two seasons is more indicative of what's to come. As such, he's not a good salary cap option this season. In drafts, he's a seventh- or eighth-round pick.
Here’s the biggest enigma in the entire top 50. Or maybe he’s just a former enigma and just not very good anymore. O’Hair, with four PGA Tour wins, lastly in 2011, was 160th in the FEC point standings. And 170th the year before. So what should be different this coming season? Probably nothing.
O'Hair showed flashes of his potential last season, but he is still trying to put it all together. It will happen, but when?
O'Hair fell into a terrible slump in 2011, but a late-season win gave him hope that everything was falling back into place. A quick start to the 2012 season and suddenly the slump that nearly engulfed his entire 2011 campaign was gone - or was it? O'Hair finished runner-up at the Sony Open in January, but after that he earned only one top-10 the rest of the year. That's essentially nine months with only one top-10. That's how he'll enter the season this year. There's always a chance that O'Hair stays in this funk, but at his price, it's too hard to pass on him. In draft leagues, he should go in the sixth or seventh round.
O'Hair was in the midst of a downright awful season last year when a trip to Canada in July changed everything. O'Hair somehow managed to win the RBC Canadian Open even though he missed the cut in nine of 12 events leading up to that week. The word funk doesn't quite describe what O'Hair went through last year prior to that win, though. Collapse might be a better word. Just two years earlier, O'Hair had earned more than $4 million and was on the short list of the up-and-coming players. Then suddenly, he was disintegrating right before our eyes. The win saved his season, but it didn't erase the memory of his bad start to the season. With that in mind, O'Hair isn't a must-have, but a look is still recommended. In draft leagues, O'Hair should go late-fourth or early-fifth round.
A top-50 finish on the money list is certainly a nice achievement, but for O'Hair, anything outside the top 30 had to be a disappointment, especially considering the season he had in 2009. The reason for the drop in earnings was due to a drop in high-end finishes. No wins, no runner-up finishes, not even a single third-place finish. What that does show, however, is that O'Hair played consistently decent the majority of the season. The high-end finishes should come back in 2011, and O'Hair is one of the few players in the $2 million range who could very well double his earnings this season. O'Hair is a strong ball-striker who hits a large percentage of greens, but his putting is lacking.
O'Hair had the best season of his career in 2009. His nine top-10s almost doubled his previous high of five in 2007, and his three top-3 finishes matched the previous high he set in 2008. The sky
appears to be the limit for O'Hair; and perhaps the best sign for the future was the consistency he developed by avoiding long droughts in 2009. O'Hair is a good candidate to find the winner's circle at least once this season, and his game should only improve as he gains more experience. He finished 2008 at 59th but moved up 44 places to 15th in the final 2009 Official World Golf Rankings.
O'Hair is a streaky player and for that reason, he'll drive you absolutely nuts if you have him on your team. Hopefully he can work on that consistency, it's the only thing missing right now.
O'Hair has had difficulty finding that extra gear since his win at the John Deere Classic in 2005. He's played well enough to stay relevant, but he has not been spectacular at any point. O'Hair's biggest issue is the putter. He ranked 155 on the PGA Tour in 2006, and 121st last season. Not coincidentally, his earnings were up from the previous year. If he can keep improving with the putter, his overall results will be much better this season.
Sometimes golfers who break through for their first win on tour have a hangover. Evidently, O'Hair's hangover lasted about 10 months. How else do you explain the performance of guy who looked so good in summer 2005? After O'Hair finally figured it out, he played some good golf to close out the 2006 season, including a fourth-place finish at the Buick Open and a 12th-place finish at the PGA Championship. If O'Hair hadn't come on strong at the end of 2005 it would be easy to discard him as an over-hyped player who had one good stretch of golf in 2005. He did finish strong, though, which makes for an interesting decision for 2007.
The 2005 PGA tour rookie of the year. O'Hair's rookie season started poorly, but he bounced back strong at the Byron Nelson where he finished runner-up. He then went on to win the John Deere Classic. O'Hair faded a little during the fall, but he should be ready to roll in 2006. Expectations could be a problem, though. A lot of eyes will be focused on this kid going into 2006. He won't sneak up on anyone, making this year more difficult than last year. O'Hair might fall victim to a sophomore slump.
