Notes: O'Hair's comeback largest at TPC at Deere Run July 10, 2005 By Joan Alexander PGA TOUR staff O묱air came from five strokes behind to win, the largest come-from-behind victory since this event moved to the TPC at Deere Run. Last year, Mark Hensby came from four strokes back to win in a playoff. Advertisement In 1975, Roger Maltbie came from a tournament-record seven strokes back to win. Here뭩 how the nine players, already exempt for the British Open that made the cut at the John Deere Classic, fared this week at the Tournament Players Club at Deere Run: Todd Hamilton (-11/T13) Stewart Cink (-9/T29) Mark Hensby (-14/T4) Zach Johnson (-8/T36) Billy Mayfair (-9/T29) Shigeki Maruyama (-13/T7) Ted Purdy (+6/76th) David Toms (-7/T40) Duffy Waldorf (-7/T40) 뷢aking his 18th career start, Sean O묱air, the circuit뭩 youngest rookie, just one day short of his 23rd birthday, earned his first PGA TOUR title. He became the first player in his 20s to win this event since 1988 when Blaine McCallister won at 29 years, nine months. He뭩 the 12th player in his 20s to win in the 35-year history of this event and the youngest winner on the PGA TOUR since Adam Scott won the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship at 23 years, one month and 16 days. 뷤묱air became the 17th player in the 35-year history of the John Deere Classic to earn his maiden PGA TOUR victory at this event. Other first-time winners were: Sam Adams (1973), Roger Maltbie (1975), John Lister (1976), Mike Morley (1977), D.A. Weibring (1979), Scott Hoch (1980), Dave Barr (1981), Payne Stewart (1982), Dan Forsman (1985), Blaine McCallister (1988), Curt Byrum (1989), David Toms (1997), J.L. Lewis (1999), Michael Clark II (2000), David Gossett (2001) and Mark Hensby (2004). 뷤묱air earned a check for $720,000 and increased his 2005 TOUR official earnings to $1,733,830. O묱air also earned a trip to next week뭩 British Open Championship at St. Andrews as a result of being the highest finisher in the field not previously exempt. Sean O묱air뭩 Final-Round Statistics Driving Accuracy-- 13 of 14 (.928) Driving Distance-- 301.7 Greens In Regulation-- 14 of 18 (.778) Total Putts-- 27 Putting Average (GIR)-- 27 Sean O묱air뭩 Tournament Statistics/Rank: Driving Accuracy-- 47 of 56 (.839)/T7 Driving Distance-- 317.4/3rd Greens In Regulation-- 59 of 72 (.819)/T2 Total Putts-- 119 Putting Average (GIR)-- 29.75/T50 뷢att Kuchar posted the third ace of the week in Sunday뭩 final round with a 7-iron on No. 7 playing 188 yards. Kuchar뭩 ace was the 17th on the PGA TOUR this year and followed Jay Delsing뭩 ace on Thursday (No. 3) and Shigeki Maruyama뭩 hole-in-one on Friday (No. 7). The three aces this week are the most in a TOUR event this year. Players in last year뭩 John Deere Classic made five holes-in-one during the week. Feature content Multimedia John Deere Classic highlights TOURCast: Become a TOUR Pass member and follow every player, every hole and every shot! Sean O'Hair says his first win in his rookie year better than imagined More player interviews Information Play The Majors Matchup fantasy game. It's FREE! 뷭ith his tie for second at this year뭩 John Deere Classic, Hank Kuehne equaled his best career finish on TOUR. Kuehne also finished tied for second at the 2003 Shell Houston Open. 뷧obert Damron뭩 tie for second was his first top-10 finish this year in 18 events and was his best effort on TOUR since a tied for second at last year뭩 EDS Byron Nelson Championship. 뷨ix players had four rounds in the 60s in this year뭩 John Deere Classic (Sean O묱air, Robert Damron, Hank Kuehne, D.J. Trahan, Heath Slocum, Philip Price). Last year, eight players had four straight sub-70 scores at the TPC at Deere Run. Two years ago, only the champion, Vijay Singh, posted four straight rounds in the 60s. 뷭ith O묱air뭩 come-from-behind victory today, only two 54-hole leaders and/or co-leaders in six years at the TPC at Deere Run have gone on to capture the John Deere Classic. Year - 54-hole leader/co-leader, Champion 2005 - J.L. Lewis (-15), Sean O묱air (-16) 2004 - Jose Coceres (-15), Mark Hensby (-16/playoff) 2003 - J.L. Lewis/Chris Riley (-12), Vijay Singh (-16) 2002 - Robert Gamez/J.P. Hayes, (-18) J.P. Hayes (-22) 2001 - David Gossett (-14), David Gossett (-19) 2000 - Kirk Triplett (-18), Michael Clark II (-19/playoff) 뷢ark Hensby made a spirited defense of his John Deere Classic title, finishing tied for fourth this year. Hensby closed with a bogey-free 7-under 64, his lowest round of the 2005 season and his best round ever at the TPC at Deere Run. On the TOUR this season, Stuart Appleby and Vijay Singh are the only players to defend titles. Appleby won a second consecutive Mercedes Championships crown to start the season, and Singh won for the second straight time at the Shell Houston Open. Ernie Els finished second at the Sony Open in Hawaii, David Toms finished second at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, and Adam Scott finished tied for second at this year뭩 Booz Allen Classic in defense of his title. 뷭es Short뭩 tie for fourth was his highest ever on the TOUR and earned him a $165,333 check, more than twice his career earnings ($75,536) going into this week뭩 event. 뷪he longest measured drive of the day was 381 yards by Bob Heintz on the par-4 ninth hole. 뷪hanks to his 7-under 64, Jonathan Byrd (tie for 13th) made the biggest move of the day, jumping 41 spots. Omar Uresti jumped 38 spots into a tie for 29th after also posting a 7-under 64. 뷞n the John Deere Classic Birdies for Charity program, there were 326 birdies made today, bringing the total for the week to 2,124 birdies.