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O’Hair wins first PGA Tour event

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SILVIS, Ill. (AP) – Sitting behind a trophy, his wife and in-laws in front of him, Sean O’Hair was very much a man at peace. He’s having the success his father demanded, winning the John Deere Classic on Sunday for his first victory in just his 18th career start, a day before his 23rd birthday. But he’s found a way to win and be happy, a balance that didn’t seem possible when he was growing up.

“That’s really the main thing why I think I’ve succeeded so quickly, is that I’m in such a great situation with my family. I’m happy and I’ve got a great relationship with my father-in-law and mother-in-law, and my wife is my best friend,” he said after shooting a 6-under 65 Sunday.

“I had a tough situation when I was a kid. That’s the easiest way to put it,” he added. “It just was not a happy situation, and there was a lot of pressure there. I just think now it’s the exact opposite. How can you not succeed?”

Starting the day five strokes back, O’Hair climbed into contention quickly with three birdies on his first nine. He got to the top of the leaderboard with a 14-foot putt on No. 14, and his victory looked secure when he blasted out to within 2 feet for another birdie on 17.

But after being so steady all day, O’Hair made things interesting.

“(On) 18, especially a guy in my situation who never won before, you’re definitely almost puking,” he said, laughing. “My hands were so sweaty, I was more concerned about keeping my hands dry than anything.”

He nearly put his second shot in the water, forcing him to scramble to make par.

With his ball on the hazard line, O’Hair took a “baseball swing” with his 8-iron and chipped within 10 feet.

O’Hair, who earned $720,000, had a 16-under 268 total on the TPC at Deere Run. He opened with rounds of 66, 69 and 68.

Kuehne (68) and Robert Damron (67) finished one stroke behind O’Hair, and Lewis (72), defending champion Mark Hensby (64) and Wes Short (66) were another shot back.

Jamie Farr Classic

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Heather Bowie won her first LPGA Tour title, parring the third hole of a playoff with Gloria Park in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

Park made things easy for Bowie, hitting a low hook out of the rough and into a creek on the par-5 18th hole. After hitting clutch putts on the first two extra holes to extend the playoff, Park triple-bogeyed the last hole.

Bowie, who earned $180,000 and a three-year LPGA Tour exemption, closed with a 4-under 67 to match Park at 10-under 274.

Fighting back tears, the winner hugged and kissed her caddie after hitting a short putt to clinch the victory in her 138th start on the tour.

Park finished with a 66 to force the playoff, birdieing the 17th hole in regulation to pull into a four-way tie.

Paula Creamer shot the tournament’s low round, a 64, to tie Jeong Jang (72) at 8-under 276. Defending champion Meg Mallon (72), Leta Lindley (71) and Pat Hurst (69) followed at 7 under.

Amateur Morgan Pressel finished with a 70 and was at 282.

Senior Players Championship

DEARBORN, Mich. – Peter Jacobsen could only wait and watch as Hale Irwin tried to catch him in the final round of the Senior Players Championship.

After Jacobsen birdied two of the last three holes to take the lead at 15 under, the 60-year-old Irwin just missed birdie tries on the final two holes to come up a stroke short Sunday in his bid for his eighth senior major victory.

The 51-year-old Jacobsen won his second senior major title in less than year, finishing with a 6-under 66 on the TPC of Michigan course.

Jacobsen, who won 2003 Greater Hartford Open for the last of his seven PGA Tour titles, won the U.S. Senior Open early last August at Bellerive for his only other victory on the 50-and-over tour.

Jacobsen, playing three groups ahead of Irwin, made a birdie putt out of a collection area on the 16th and two-putted from 80 feet on the next hole for a birdie to surge past Irwin.

Irwin, who also lipped out a 4-footer for par on the 12th, finished with a 70 after shooting three straight 68s.

Five-time British Open champion Tom Watson (68) and Tom McKnight (71) tied for third at 12 under.

Dana Quigley (73) was among six player at 10 under in perhaps the final event in his ironman streak. Quigley, playing his 264th consecutive event and 278th straight in events he has been eligible for, will end the eight-year run if his hip doesn’t improve because of doesn’t want to sit through a long flight to the Senior British Open.

Jacobsen, playing in only his 13th Champions Tour event in two years, dropped to 9 under with a bogey on No. 5, but had six birdies in a 12-hole stretch to take the lead.

The fan favorite earned $375,000 for his fourth top-six finish in four appearances in Champions Tour majors. He has played 10 PGA Tour events this year, including last month’s U.S. Open where he tied for 15th.

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