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VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 12, 2015Sean O'HairPALM HARBOR, FLORIDA Q.  Sean, you knew this was going to be a receptive golf course, birdies out there. Eight, almost 9 for you today. You took full advantage. SEAN O'HAIR: Yeah. It was a fun day. There were a few mud balls out there, hitting some of the fairways especially they're mowing half it down-grain and some against the grain. Against the grain you're catching quite a few mud balls. I was just able to get it fairly close to the hole and I made a lot of putts. Solid day all around. Q. I know confidence is a fickle thing. When you won here what is it like stepping on to this golf course knowing you've had the ultimate success here? SEAN O'HAIR: I've always liked the golf course. That's more where the confidence comes from. You know, results in the past, you know, I've won at this place but I've also missed the cut quite a few times here, too, so just seems one of those courses that if you're not on your game you're going to have a tough week. So, coming in here I'm confident in knowing what I need to do. It's just a matter of getting there. Q. Particular things you're confident with that lend itself well to scoring here? SEAN O'HAIR: Yeah. You know, I'm really starting to hit the ball nicely off the tee and ball striking is coming around. Playing has been pretty good all year and short game, short game is kind of hit or miss. Some weeks it's really good, some weeks it's not so good. You know, a course like this hopefully you're hitting a lot of fairways and greens. You don't have to trust that short game. Like I said, it's one of those courses where you know if the conditions are how they normally are you're going to have a couple days where it gets windy and later on in the week the fairways are going to be firm and the greens are going to be firm and a lot faster. It's going to be that much more difficult. You got to really be on our game. Q. Eight birdies for the 2008 champion on Thursday. How solid a start was it for you in the opening round? SEAN O'HAIR: I struck the ball nicely all day. Birdied -- bogeyed my first hole today with a mud ball from the middle of the fairway which was a little disappointing, but hung in there and got it back a few holes later and hit it close all day and made pretty much every opportunity I had. So, it was a great day all around. Q. Knowing how difficult this golf course can play, how pleased are you with the number considering that the conditions were out there for a low one? SEAN O'HAIR: I mean really this golf course is one of those courses under par is a good score. I don't care what condition it's in. You know, I was hoping -- I felt like my game was in a position where 2, 3-under par everyday is kind of where I wanted to be goal-wise but I try not to get too far ahead of myself and this place is all about fairways and greens. The rough here is brutal, it's really thick especially around the greens. So, I did that today and took advantage of the opportunities I had. So, did my job today. I'm just kind of hoping I do that the next three days. Q. You've made the cut the last four events coming into the week. What sort of has been clicking and sort of building to this week for you? SEAN O'HAIR: You know, it's been a long road to say the least. Last two years have been pretty disappointing for me. I lost really everything, I lost my ball striking and kind of lost my mind, lost my confidence as far as how I play the game because I like to hit a lot of different shots and, you know, I got very swing oriented the last couple years and the game just got difficult for me and the way I feel mentally, I feel like I'm playing a game the way I used to when I was a kid, hiking fades, draws, hitting it high, hitting it low. I'm trusting a little bit out there. The game has been -- this is kind of a product of two years of hard work. You know, it's been coming but I'm starting to get confidence in it which, you know, we all know that with confidence you can do a lot of good things. Q. Hit it straight start, keep it going. Just building on what you said, it's been a work in progress the last couple years. Did you go back to square one? SEAN O'HAIR: Not really. I've been working with a guy back home in Philadelphia and we've been trying to simplify the swing a little bit. My swing got a little long and across the line at the top and that's really the only thing we worked on from a technical standpoint is kind of shorten it up and get the shaft on a better plane at the top. From there just learning how to hit shots again; I think that's been the most difficult thing, and being able to trust it, you know, lot of double crosses the last couple years, we were trying to hit a fade and a you hit a pull hook. That gets from frustrating and very old. It's hard to play that way. That's been more the hard work is trying to, you know, learn how to play those shots again and trusting it. Q. Did you envision coming out here, since you had success on this course before, going out here and having the round that you had this morning? SEAN O'HAIR: You know what, I'm not surprised. Like I said, I've been playing really well for awhile now, this year especially, and you know, I'm steadily improving. This is my 10th event and I've made, you know 8 cuts out of -- or 9 events, I've made 8 cuts. Obviously I'm not trying to make cuts, I'm trying to compete. But the last couple finishes I finished 29th at Pebble and 25th at Honda and I feel like the ball is definitely rolling in the right direction. Q. How much do you think conditions can change over the next couple of days? SEAN O'HAIR: Oh, yeah. If you get some wind and get some heat, this golf course will dry out pretty quick. Really depends on what they do as far as watering the golf course and if we get any rain. If we don't get any rain and they're not watering the course, it will change drastically over the next couple days. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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