O'Hair clubhouse leader at the Memorial

Sean O'Hair from West Chester fired a 5-under par 67 at the Memorial Tournament on Thursday, making him the leader in the clubhouse by a shot over Steve Flesch when first-round play was called.

Here are a few excerpts from his post-round press conference:

Q: Sean, a great start actually, a double bogey on the third hole and from there on it was cruise control. But a great start overall for you.

SEAN O'HAIR: Yeah, it's great. It's been a while since I had a good start to an event, so it's nice to just feel positive about what happened today instead of fighting, trying to make the cut.

Q: I know you were unhappy with the way you began the season, but you've shown signs in the last month. Anything in particular that you...

SEAN O'HAIR: You know, the whole West Coast was kind of a tough, tough deal for me, because I was working with an instructor who was... we were working on a few things. And I don't think they fit me. And finally I made an instructor change at Doral, to a guy I used to work with Gary Gilchrist, that I used to work with as a junior at the Leadbetter Academy. He looks at it from a player's perspective. And he kind of clarifies things for me, and he keeps it simple for me. And he's worked with my swing instead of trying to rebuild a swing. I think my swing is pretty good. It won a lot of money last year. And I'm just kind of getting back to that and working on shaping shots and stuff like that. And I've been working with (Bob) Rotella a little bit on trying to clear my head out there. There's been a lot of negative thoughts going on.

Q. As much I think I've heard you say this but as much stability that Steve (Lucas) brought to you at that time in your life, was it difficult, awkward, making the switch?

SEAN O'HAIR: You know, it was a mutual thing. It wasn't like "Well, Steve, I've got to tell you some bad news, I'm firing you." It wasn't like that at all. For some reason, we started talking about it at dinner one night. And I said, "Hey, maybe we need to think about making a change." And we did. And we felt like now was the best time, instead of waiting at the end of the year and doing it, or waiting until next year. It's pretty easy. It's hard to see him go, because I miss him being out here. It's nice to have him out here and enjoy some things with him. But I think it's good for both him and I, to be honest with you, in the long run.

Q: Is he going to be at the U.S. Open, that would be weird?

SEAN O'HAIR: No, I think he's going to enjoy it a little bit more. He'll be able to enjoy it rather than working. And plus, it's going to be brutally hot, so he'll have a beer or two at the turn.