Oh, and the Motherwell man had also been practising his putting for the $9 million AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in the living room after being handed a late-ish dream debut on the US circuit on the California coast last week.

In one of those tales that highlight the beauty of golf, Tartan Tour stalwart O’Hara succeeded where the likes of US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald failed by making the 54-hole cut in an event played at Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula and Spyglass Hill.

Playing alongside Spieth in the final round at Pebble Beach, where Justin Rose landed the title in a Monday finish, O’Hara ended up in 72nd spot to earn $17,550 but came away with more important things from the experience than money.

Paul O'Hara impressed his local caddie, Gabriel Arcoleo, with how he played on his PGA Tour debut. Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images.

“It was an amazing week,” the Scottish PGA champion told The Scotsman. “I only found out about 17-18 days ago that I’d got into the event, so I got there seven or eight days early as I hadn’t played competitively since the Highland Links Pro-Am in October.

“Also, the last time I’d hit off grass was down at Dunbar on 1 December with a couple of good friends, Steven Rennie and Gerry Mannering. So that was six weeks and I don’t think I’d hit a bunker shot from October (laughing).”

O’Hara opened with a 71 at Monterey Peninsula, added a 69 that included a brilliant 32 on the back nine at Pebble Beach before digging deep in a weather-hit third round to grind out a 74 at Spyglass Hill to make the cut on the mark.

“It’s probably the worst I’ve driven the ball for a long time,” he added. “I tried to hit 300-400 balls a day at the range just to try and be able to hit it half decent when I got out there, but I was struggling a bit off the tee and just tried to use my experience to get it round the golf course.

Paul O'Hara plays a shot on the first hole during the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Spyglass Hill in California. Picture: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images.

“I straightened up a little bit, but I still wasn’t 100 per cent confident off the tee, which was a pity as otherwise I feel as though I could have done pretty well as my iron play was good and my putting, too.”

A very likeable lad, O’Hara said he’d felt “proud” to make it through to the final round, and though a bogey-double bogey finish on the front nine at Pebble Beach took a bit of gloss of his week as he closed with a 77, some time in the company of Spieth was an added bonus.

“It was great,” he said of playing with the Texan. “I played a few holes last year with Jon Rahm at the Scottish Open, so I didn’t feel any extra pressure playing with Jordan, to be honest. He is a lovely guy, as is his caddie Michael [Greller]. They were talking away every hole as though they were your best friends.

“We actually got a really bad draw on the last day. We teed off at No 10 and we had the full back nine straight into the teeth of the wind. It was almost impossible, to be honest. Then the next day we turned up to play our final eight holes and the wind had switched, so we almost got every hole straight into the wind.

“Neither of us were very happy as I think the guys who teed off on No 1 got the front nine downwind then the back nine the next day downwind, but that’s just the way it happens. To be honest, I was just pleased to par my last hole at Spyglass to make it into the final round.”

O’Hara, who has been the dominant player on the PGA in Scotland’s Tartan Tour over the past decade, partnered American Pat Hamill, the chairman and CEO of Colorado-based Oakwood Homes, in the team event and explained how that partnership had come about.

“I’ve been lucky the last few years to have been invited to the Carnegie Invitational at Skibo Castle by (director of golf) David Thomson. He helps me with my game as well on the technical side and I played the last couple of years with Pat Hamill,” he said.

“I think he’s played in the last 20-odd Pebble Beach Pro-Ams and, after I shot a course record of nine-under at Skibo in September, he said to me ‘right, I’m going to try and get you in the Pebble Pro-Am’.

“I hadn’t heard from him for months, but it turns out that he’d been in a massive car crash. He almost died, having to be resuscitated three times, breaking 12 ribs, suffering brain bleed, the lot.

“Then, in the second week in January, he messaged me out of the blue to say he’d managed to get me in. They went through my CV and that, as well as Pat’s influence, got me an invitation. I’m glad I played well.

“I’ve played a few times at Wentworth and it was on a different level in terms of the grandstands, hospitality units etc. It almost felt ten times bigger than the BMW PGA. My girlfriend, Kim, was out with me and she couldn’t believe the size of the crowds. All three courses were rammed. You don’t realise how big the PGA Tour is until you turn up at one of the events.”

O’Hara’s next assignment is a pro-am in Turkey before he then turns his attention to the PGA Play-Offs, an event being held in Cyprus on this occasion and once again having DP World Tour starts up for grabs. “I think Greig Hutcheon got about seven DP World Tour starts last year for winning it,” he observed of that opportunity.

As was the case with Hutcheon when he gave a great account of himself in the Champions Tour Q-School before securing a Legends Tour card for this season, O’Hara’s performance underlined the quality of players currently competing on the Tartan Tour.

“I had a really good local caddie - he works at Monterey Peninsula - last week and he said that he couldn’t believe I wasn’t on a tour,” revealed O’Hara. “He was saying ‘you’ve not played for four months and you are knocking the flags out and bombing it down the fairway’. It just shows you. I think if I had a wee run of tournaments out there and got a good bit of practice in, you just never know.”

Paul O'Hara 'proud' to make cut on PGA Tour debut after lack of proper preparation

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