O’Hair takes lead; Woods 1 shot back

ATLANTA (AP) — Sean O’Hair knew he would need some help from Tiger Woods to win the FedEx Cup. He got more than he expected.

And it was about putting, not points.

Woods and O’Hair practiced together on the back nine at East Lake on the eve of the Tour Championship, and O’Hair sought some advice on his putting from the world’s No. 1 player, regarded as among the best in golf with the putter.

Woods suggested that O’Hair open the face of the club on the way back so that he could release the blade through the ball. It paid off Thursday when O’Hair made enough putts for a 4-under 66 and a one-shot lead over three players — including Woods.

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

Woods was joking, for it is typical in this sport for players to help each other even as they’re tried to beat each other. O’Hair is the first to concede that his putting has held him back in his five years on tour, and he wasn’t afraid to ask.

“I believe in what he said, and I think it’s the key for me to kind of take my putting to another level,” O’Hair said. “Getting advice like that from good players is obviously awesome, but getting it from basically the greatest of all time is pretty cool.

“I mean, I’m his competition, for him to help me out like he did was very classy, I thought.”

The tip didn’t take overnight, but it was good enough on greens that were far more firm than any of the 30-man field could have imagined after so much rain in Atlanta over the last week.

Woods recovered from a shaky start with three birdies over a four-hole stretch on the back nine for a 67, putting him one shot behind with Padraig Harrington and British Open champion Stewart Cink.

Only eight players managed to break par in the final FedEx Cup playoff event, with a $10 million bonus going to the winner. O’Hair is the No. 7 seed, meaning he would have to win the Tour Championship and have Woods finish in a three-way tie for second or worse.

So far, so good. And so much golf left to be played.

O’Hair could only imagine what it would be like to try out his putting tip on the 18th green Sunday with a chance to go home with $11.35 million, the combined earnings of the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship.

“If I do have that opportunity, I hope I have a five-shot lead,” he said.

Woods doesn’t regret giving O’Hair the putting advice.

“It’s very simple,” Woods said. “You always help your friends. Sean is a friend of mine, and like all my friends, you always try to make their life better somehow. Sean has been struggling a bit on the greens this year, and I thought I could offer a little bit of help and insight to how he could change that.”

Woods, who is in the best shape to capture the FedEx Cup as the No. 1 seed, could have used some help early in the round. As O’Hair, Harrington and Cink were setting an early pace, Woods was headed in the wrong direction by failing to save par from a bunker on the par-3 sixth, and making bogey on the eighth from the rough to go 1 over.

He was six shots behind at one point, then closed quickly.

“This golf course, you have to be very patient, especially with greens this firm,” Woods said. “It’s really hard to get the ball close unless you drive the ball in the fairway and have a short iron in.”