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By T.J. Auclair
PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer

NORTON, Mass. -- Sean O'Hair will be the first to admit that the last two seasons haven't exactly gone as well as he would have liked.

Sean O'Hair fired a 66 in Round 2. (WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

O'HAIR AT TPC BOSTON

Category Round 1 Round 2 Birdies 5 7 Pars 11 9 Driving Accuracy 50% 79% Driving Distance 296 yds. 293 yds. Putts per Round 27 31

Then again, after winning the John Deere Classic as a rookie at the age of 23 in 2005, it was understandable for O'Hair to have such high expectations.

"I think there's been some highlights here and there -- it's been a little bit of a disappointing year for me," said O'Hair, whose best finish in 2007 was a tie for seventh at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley in June. "The last couple years have been a little bit disappointing.

"I haven't quite contended as much as I would like. I think I just need to work on a few things here and there and just kind of get comfortable with myself and with my game, and I think when I do that, I'll play well."

It looks like O'Hair is doing that this week in the Deutsche Bank Championship at the TPC Boston, the second of four events in the inaugural PGA TOUR's FedExCup Playoffs. O'Hair backed up a 68 on Friday with a 5-under-par 66 on Saturday, which had him at 9-under-par total and tied for the early second-round clubhouse lead with Phil Mickelson.

"I hit the ball really well today and just made a few putts here and there," he said. "I guess I didn't do anything really too stupid out there. I just kept it in play and made a few birdies."

O'Hair made seven birdies total to go along with two bogeys on a beautiful but breezy day just outside of Boston. His impressive play couldn't have come at a more appropriate time. Entering the week at No. 68 in the FedExCup standings, O'Hair needs to remain within the top-70 to advance to next week's BMW Championship in Chicago. However, he said that's not something he's thinking about on the course.

"I try just to kind of play good golf and let my good golf take care of everything else," he said. "For the FedExCup standings, there's a lot of different things to take into account. You know, I think there's so many different guys that if they play well or if they miss the cut or how they finish, it's just there's too many scenarios, so I just try and mind my own business."

So far that's working well for O'Hair. And so is his putting at TPC Boston, which was one aspect of his game he felt had been holding him back for the last two seasons. Through two rounds at the Deutsche Bank Championship, O'Hair was inside the top 20 in putts per greens in regulation.

"I think putting has always been kind of my nemesis since I've been on TOUR," he said. "I think as a kid that was the best part of my game, and it's just sometimes you miss a few putts here and there, and you lose some confidence and then you struggle with it. It's not that I'm a bad putter, I just think I kind of doubt myself sometimes, and I'm just trying to get away from that."