O'Hair blog: New coach, new swing has me playing well

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Sean O'Hair brought a new swing to the table in 2009 -- and he already has three top-10 finishes.

Editor's note: Sean O'Hair will defend his title at the Transitions Championship this week. He comes to Tampa Bay playing well -- finishing 25th or better in his first six starts of the year, including a tie for 13th at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship on Sunday. He filed this blog on Sunday.

More blogs: Adam Scott | Ernie Els | Jimmy Walker | Joesph Sykora | 2009 blog archive

I've been playing really well this year. I played well at the CA Championship last week but the 18th hole just killed me. I tripled it in the second round and doubled it on Saturday. It's upsetting when you play as well as I did but you take yourself out of the tournament by having two or three bad holes. But all in all I'm very happy with the way things are going. I think I will win. I have to trust the fact that I will win. It's just a matter of doing my work and staying positive. I'm playing great, and I've got to continue to work hard and not get comfortable with where I am. You've just got to keep improving. I think that it's just a matter of time before I win again.

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O'Hair lives outside Philadelphia year-round. He uses an indoor driving range to work on his game.

SEAN O'HAIR

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I probably came into the season a little more prepared than I have in the past. It's funny. I actually practiced the least this off-season than I ever have. I switched coaches last year in Canada and I'm now working with Sean Foley. I feel like the guy really knows the golf swing and he's got me on a good plan. I don't feel like I have to beat balls all the time, even though I've added a great practice facility to my house in Pennsylvania so I can work on my game when it's snowing outside. I went down to Florida a couple of times during the offseason to see Sean. He told me this is what we're working on and we're going to work on it the whole year and we're not going to go back and forth. That's what I mean about a plan. It wasn't like I came out and said "Let's see where my game is and we'll go from there." It was like this is my game plan and this is what I am going to focus on. So that really helped me.

I've completely changed my swing. My setup is different, my backswing is different and my downswing is different. Basically what I've done has been to take the left side of the golf course out of the equation. I've been working on my putting stroke a little bit, too. But it's the exact opposite on the putting green. I want my miss there to be left instead of right, and that's coming along nicely. I'm putting a lot better this year --more consistently than I ever have. I just think I'm getting more comfortable with playing good golf.

The swing is still a work in progress. It's always going to be a work in progress, but I do feel comfortable with it and where I'm going with it. There's a lot of improvement to be made, but a lot of it is mental, too. So I'm really working hard with Bob Rotella on getting away from being results-oriented. I want to concentrate on the process -- having a good set-up and good alignment and then a good swing -- but not worrying about where the ball's going to go. That really helped me out a lot this year as well.

I've got a lot of goals for this year. I would love to play in the Presidents Cup. The Ryder Cup was a real disappointment for me last year. I was playing well, and then -- all of a sudden -- I stopped and missed a few cuts that were crucial for me, which killed my chances. So this year I'd love to make Presidents Cup. Winning, obviously, is big, too. Actually I'd like to win a few times if I can do that. I'd like to contend in the majors -- if not win one. I think the most important thing is to just be consistent week in and week out and put myself in a position to win. I think if I do that, I'll be happy.

I am excited to be back in Tampa this week. We drove up on Sunday night from Doral. You try to approach it like any other golf tournament, but I have to admit, it is cool to go in and know that you are the defending champion. I definitely feel comfortable with the golf course, and I think that is something that plays in my favor, but it's just a nice privilege to have.

It's great to have my family out here with me, too. My son is 2 and my daughter is 4 now. We've got another little boy on the way, too -- he's due on June 25. My mother-in-law travels with us and helps, which is great. It can be crazy at times, but it's nice to have them all here rather than being 1,000 miles away from them. It's hard. I can only be away from them for about a week and then I really want to see them. It's tough because you want to raise them like any normal family. You want them to have friends. You want them to have a life. But then you also want to raise them yourself. It's a happy medium. It's pretty tricky. It's hard to juggle family life and life as a professional golfer, as well.