Putting tip from Tiger lands O'Hair at top of leader board

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sean O’Hair got a putting tip from Tiger Woods and now he leads the Tour Championship.

O’Hair finished Thursday’s opening round at East Lake Golf Club with a 4-under-par 66. His round was aided by one putt of over 50 feet and another of over 30 feet.

Thanks, Tiger.

“Yeah, I’m going to chew him out right now,” Woods said.

Woods is in a three-way tie for second place with Stewart Cink and Padraig Harrington, one stroke off the lead at 3 under.

O’Hair finished with six birdies, including four on the front nine. He was hurt by two bogeys on the back nine, including one at No. 17. O’Hair was just off the green after his approach and tried to chip the ball with a wood. It rolled well past the cup, and he two-putted for bogey.

“You know, it was disappointing to make that bogey on 17 because it was a fairly straight-forward up-and-down there. But that was really the only hiccup. So I was pretty pleased with today.”

At one point, Woods was 1 over par and O’Hair was 5 under. Woods raced up the leader board with a run of four birdies in seven holes (No. 9-15).

“I felt if I shot under par for the day, I’d be fine,” Woods said. “There aren’t going to be a lot of guys under par. Luckily I birdied nine and then kind of got it going on the back nine.”

As for the tournament within the tournament — the FedEx Cup and its $10 million prize — Woods stands in the best shape of the five players who control their own destiny. The four other players who have a chance to win the Tour Championship and capture the FedEx Cup are well off the pace. Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson are tied for ninth (even par), Jim Furyk is tied for 21st (2 over) and Heath Slocum is tied for 26th (3 over). Harrington enters sixth in the standings, needing to win the tournament and have Woods finish third or worse to win the cup.

Cink is a member of East Lake. However, the course hasn’t always been kind to him. Well, not as the venue for the Tour Championship anyway.

Cink matched his career-best first round at the Tour Championship with the 67.

“I think in the past I’ve tried to combine the rest of my life that goes on when I’m having an off week here [and] with having a tournament [here], and it’s just been a little bit too much,” said Cink, a Duluth resident. “And I came into this week with a little bit different attitude, and it was something that was forced by weather. I wasn’t able to prepare or practice, and I kind of needed to be selfish and give myself plenty of time to get ready for the tournament once the rain stopped.”

Cink has played in seven Tour Championships, five at East Lake. His best finish was a tie for 11th. That came in 2007, the same year he opened with a 67. Cink’s average finish in the six other tournaments is 20th.

“I like the fact that I won’t have to play catch up from the start,” said Cink, the British Open champion.

Cink’s round featured five birdies — four on the front nine. He bogeyed twice on the back nine, both times from the fairway. His back-nine round was helped by two sand saves.

After East Lake was hit with over 10 inches of rain early in the week, the tournament enjoyed its second straight day of sunny and dry weather. The weather and course drainage system made for some firm greens. That is giving East Lake its bite.

“They can’t get much firmer,” Harrington said. “Well, I suppose they could get a little bit firmer, but I would put them right up there.”