Lees finishes firstt at Junior Tour opener; O'Hair is back

   Agnes Irwin’s Kaitlyn Lees has been  one of the top players in the Inter-Ac League for a couple of years, so it seems odd to consider that she’s still only in ninth grade. Lees won the Inter-Ac’s individual title as a seventh-grader two years ago and was the runnerup to Baldwin’s Caroline Rosen last spring.

   It appears all systems are go for Lees as she tuned up for the Inter-Ac’s spring campaign by finishing first in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s inaugural event of the year, held Sunday at Vineyard Golf at Renault in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

   Competing in the 16-to-18 division even though she’s certainly eligible for the 13-to-15 division, Lees fired an 83 over the 5,323-yard, par-72 Vineyard Golf layout. It was chilly and blustery, but there is no surer sign of spring than the kids getting out there to hit the ball around in a Junior Tour event. Lees’ round was highlighted by a birdie at the par-4 11^th hole.

   Lees finished five shots ahead of Esther Park, a player out of Wilmington, Del. who, like Lees, is eligible to compete against the younger girls. Lees is in the class of 2018 at Agnes Irwin while Park is listed as class of 2019.

   Brianna Marmorstein of Havertown finished second in the 13-to-15 division with a 93. That left her a shot behind division winner Camille O’Halloran of Northfield, N.J. who carded a 92.

Wayne’s John Updike got his year off to a good start with an 83 that gave him a fifth-place finish in the boys 13-to-15 division. Division honors went Jacob Hanzel of Sewell, N.J. Hanzel’s 77 left him a shot ahead of Brian Isztwan, the Penn Charter freshman who claimed the Inter-Ac boys title last fall.

Nicky Scarpone of Havertown finished 13^th in the division with a 119.

   Forrest Swisher of Hopewell, N.J. took top honors in the 16-to-18 division, his 79 a shot better than Vinay Ramesh, the Pennsbury senior who won the PIAA Class AAA title last fall.

   Among the nine-holers, Ryan D’Ariano of West Chester took top honors with a 39, besting Brian Isztwan’s younger brother Patrick by a shot. The Isztwan brothers are Huntingdon Valley residents and members at Hungtingdon Valley Country Club. Kathleen Mark of Media finished 11^th in the division with a 66.

Banner weekend for O’Hair

   About the only thing that didn’t go right for Sean O’Hair, an adopted son of Delco, in the final analysis of the Valspar Classic Sunday at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course was the birdie putt he hit on the second hole of a playoff that looked like it had to go in, but somehow lipped out.

   On the next hole of the playoff, Jordan Spieth’s 28-footer for birdie found the hole and ended the drama. It was some pretty good golf in the playoff with O’Hair, the old man in the group at 32, getting it on with two of the rising stars on the PGA Tour, the 21-year-old Spieth and 24-year-old Patrick Reed.

   O’Hair, a four-time winner on the tour, has had to battle his way back onto the tour each of the last two years by way of playing in the Web.com Tour playoff series. The Web.com playoffs have replaced the old Qualifying School event for gaining entry onto the PGA Tour and it’s such a complicated deal that I was fairly certain that O’Hair, the husband of the former Jackie Lucas, a Sun Valley All-Delco, had not survived last year, only to find out he did have some status on the PGA Tour.

Still, he needed a sponsor’s exemption to get in the field at Innisbrook, an event he won (sponsors of the event have come and gone several times over the last few years) in 2008. I suspect being a cordial defending champion five years ago had a lot to do with getting a spot in the field.

   O’Hair is, by all accounts,  trying to get back to basics. The slight fade he was sporting much of the weekend seems to be helping  to turn around the downward spiral that trying to draw the ball, among other modifications that weren’t working, had led to.

   A tee shot during Friday’s second round got away from him to the right and the resulting splashdown gave him a double bogey in a round of 72. The other rounds were 66, 69 and a final-round 67 on a demanding layout.

   The thing you noticed Sunday was that O’Hair was completely comfortable in the company of Spieth and Reed. He hadn’t won since the 2011 Canadian Open, but he still looked like he knew how to win.

   A win would’ve restored him to full standing on the PGA Tour for the rest of this year and all of 2016, assuming that rule is still in effect. I suspect it would’ve got him in the Masters.

   But with four youngsters at home, the $519 grand will be appreciated. More importantly, his confidence that he can compete in the big leagues should be at least partially restored. And maybe the next time that putt that just can’t miss won’t.