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QBE Shootout: Steve Stricker, Sean O’Hair back in the winner’s circle

By Brandon Raper

CHARLOTTE, NC - AUGUST 12: Steve Stricker of the United States plays his shot from the 16th tee during the third round of the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on August 12, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - AUGUST 12: Steve Stricker of the United States plays his shot from the 16th tee during the third round of the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on August 12, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images) /
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Steve Stricker and Sean O’Hair got back in the win column on a chilly Sunday at the QBE Shootout.

The last hole of PGA TOUR golf in 2017 has been played, and now we enjoy our long winter’s break. 24 days without a tournament will be rough, but it’ll be a lot easier for Steve Stricker and Sean O’Hair. The veteran duo closed out 2017 with a rousing victory at the QBE Shootout.

While the Shootout is yet another unofficial event, it won’t feel that way to the victors. Stricker and O’Hair bested the Irish duo of Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell by two strokes at Tiburon Golf Club, both hoisting their first trophy in years.

O’Hair, 35, is a four-time PGA TOUR winner, but his last victory came in 2011 at the RBC Canadian Open. He did win this event when it was called the Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Kenny Perry) in 2012, but the closest he came to victory since then was a playoff loss at the 2015 Valspar Championship. You might remember that as Jordan Spieth’s second TOUR win, and his first as a full-time Tour member. Seems like ages ago, right?

Stricker, set to turn 51 in February, was in a similar spot. His last victory came at the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, at age 44. Stricker made his PGA TOUR Champions debut back in March, but he played just six events all year, finishing in the top three four times, with just one tournament outside the top ten.

Victory at the QBE Shootout not just an exhibition for O’Hair, Stricker

Although Stricker is 15 years O’Hair’s senior, he’s not ready to concede his TOUR career yet. He’s worked out a significantly reduced schedule built around the majors, but he’s still a tough competitor facing the game’s best.

Meanwhile, O’Hair is still looking to get back to his form from late last decade. He had a solid campaign in 2017, going 19-for-25 and scoring five top-ten finishes along the way. It was also his third consecutive season with at least one runner-up finish. Golf can be a fickle, fickle sport, and nobody knows that more than O’Hair.

O’Hair and Stricker clearly got along well as a team this week, and O’Hair was excited to have this title once again.

"“This is always a great event to finish the year off with, and to pull this off is special,” O’Hair said. “But to do it with Steve is even that much better for me. I’m a golf geek, so he’s a friend of mine, but still it’s kind of hard not to look at him and kind of put him a little bit up on a pedestal.”"

Next: Ranking the top ten par-3 holes in the world

Both players will bring home a hair over $400,000 for their efforts in Florida this week. That’s bound to brighten the holiday season at least a bit. And with a little extra momentum at their backs, 2018 could be a year to watch for both of these veterans of the links.

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