Plucky O'Hair wins Pods Championship

Sean O’Hair took advantage of a collapse by Stewart Cink to return to the winner’s circle today.

O’Hair carded a two-under-par 69 to win the PODS Championship by two strokes.

It was the second victory of his career for O’Hair, whose only other win came at the John Deere Classic in July 2005.

He finished at four-under 280 and pocketed the first prize of $954,000 (€622,146).

Cink, who was overpowered by Tiger Woods in the final of WGC Accenture Match Play Championship last month, signed for a three-over 74 and finished in a six-way tie for second place at two-under 282.

John Senden (67), Ryuji Imada (68), George O’Neill (69), Troy Matteson (69) and Billy Mayfair (72) joined Cink in the cluster for second place.

The 25-year-old O’Hair started the day three shots off the lead, and his chances appeared to dim when third-round leader Cink birdied the first two holes to fall four behind.

But Cink followed with a bogey at the third and added three more bogeys before a killer double-bogey at the 16th hole knocked him from contention.

O’Hair wrested the lead for Cink when he made a 32-foot putt for birdie on the par-three 16th hole to move to five-under.

Cink, who was playing one hole behind O’Hair, bogeyed the 14th when his drive came to rest alongside a tree.

The two-shot swing gave O’Hair a two-stroke cushion, allowing him to bogey the las hole without incident.

O’Hair hardly seemed like a prime contender coming into the tournament. His best finish in five previous starts this year was a tie for 49th and he missed the cut at his last two events.

Six golfers were forced to complete their third rounds at the event this morning due to rain and darkness delaying play the last two days.

Cink held a two-shot advantage over Geoff Ogilvy, Brandt Snedeker and Mayfair entering the final found.