A rookie on the PGA tour came from behind and won the John Deere Classic for his first career victory on the professional circuit. Sean O’Hair finished the four-day tournament at 16-under-par. “Every single day I hit the ball better than I ever have and it’s just, I don’t know, unbelievable,” O’Hair told reporters after his victory. O’Hair turns 23 today and he’s the youngest rookie on the tour, but he made just three bogies in the tournament. O’Hair was five shots back from the lead to start Sunday, but recorded three birdies in the front nine to get back in contention. He took the lead with a 14-foot-put on the 14th hole but nearly lost the lead on the 18th. “I was really sweating it,” O’Hair says. O’Hair briefly turned pro when he was 17 at the urging of his father. The father and son haven’t spoken since late 2002, and O’Hair says his wife, Jackie, and her family rescued him. His father-in-law was his caddy Sunday and his wife, five-month-old daughter and mother-in-law walked the course to follow his progress. “Jackie was like my guardian angel,” he said. “She just came at the right time for me.” Much of the early buss from the John Deere Classic was about 15-year-old Michelle Wie who nearly made the cut for tournament. O’Hair says she’s a “phenomenal player” who will make the cut soon. O’Hair called Wie a more remarkable player than Tiger Woods. “Forget that she’s a female,” O’Hair said. “Name me a 15-year-old in the history of golf who could do what she did this week. I don’t even think Tiger would even come close.” O’Hair won $720,000 with yesterday’s victory and he also earned a spot in next week’s British Open. “I want to feed off this and learn something from it,” he said. “I can learn so much from the veterans out here and if I keep on working hard and keep on working on the right things, I feel it’s only going to get better.”
