Mark O'Meara

For the Florida criminal defense attorney associated with the Trayvon Martin case, see Mark O'Mara.
Mark O'Meara
 Golfer 

O'Meara in 2005
Personal information
Full name Mark Francis O'Meara
Born (1957-01-13) January 13, 1957
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Houston, Texas
Spouse Meredith O'Meara
Children Michelle, Shaun, Aidan Berkman (stepson)
Career
College Long Beach State University
Turned professional 1980
Current tour(s) Champions Tour (joined 2007)
Former tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 1981)
Professional wins 34
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 16
European Tour 4
Japan Golf Tour 2
PGA Tour Champions 2
Best results in major championships
(wins: 2)
Masters Tournament Won: 1998
U.S. Open T3: 1988
The Open Championship Won: 1998
PGA Championship T4: 1998
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2015 (member page)
PGA Player of the Year 1998
PGA Tour
Player of the Year
1998

Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from their debut in 1986 to 2000.[1] He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2014 and was inducted in July 2015.[2]

Early years

O'Meara was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, but grew up in southern California in Mission Viejo. He took up golf at age 13, sneaking on to the nearby Mission Viejo Country Club. O'Meara later became an employee of the club and played on his high school golf team. He was an All-American at Long Beach State,[3] and won the U.S. Amateur in 1979, defeating John Cook. He also won the California State Amateur Championship that year.

O'Meara was a former resident of Orlando, Florida and lived in the same neighborhood as Tiger Woods. The two became good friends and frequently golfed together during this time. O'Meara now resides in Houston, Texas.

PGA Tour

After graduating with a degree in marketing in 1980, O'Meara turned professional and would win 16 events on the PGA Tour, beginning with the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1984. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am five times, but he passed his 41st birthday in January 1998 without having won a major championship as a professional.

In a late finale to his PGA Tour winning career, O'Meara won two majors in 1998, The Masters and the British Open. O'Meara's victory in The Masters came at his 15th attempt, which is still a record.[4] O'Meara attributed this resurgence partly to the inspiration of working with Tiger Woods, the new superstar of the game at the time, with whom O'Meara had become good friends.[5] In the same year, he won the Cisco World Match Play Championship and reached a career best of second in the Official World Golf Ranking.

O'Meara is known for competing outside the United States more often than most leading American golfers, and has won tournaments in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. A man with a genial demeanor, he is one of the most popular figures in international golf. In the new millennium his form took a downturn and he began to struggle with injuries, but in 2004 he won an official tour event for the first time since 1998, taking the Dubai Desert Classic title, which despite being played in the Middle East is a European Tour event.

Champions Tour

In 2007, O'Meara began play on the Champions Tour; he had many top-10 finishes in his first three seasons including several runner-up finishes, but no wins. In 2010, he broke through with a win in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with Nick Price, followed by his first senior major victory in the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. O'Meara was sidelined by a rib injury for several months starting in April 2012; he missed the majors on both tours and did not compete until August.[6][7]

O'Meara has begun to develop a golf course design practice and enjoys fishing in his off time. He is currently a brand ambassador for Pacific Links International.

Professional wins (34)

PGA Tour wins (16)

Legend
Major championships (2)
Other PGA Tour (14)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Sep 16, 1984 Greater Milwaukee Open 67-68-69-68=272 −16 5 strokes United States Tom Watson
2 Feb 3, 1985 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am 70-72-68-73=283 −5 1 stroke Japan Kikuo Arai, United States Larry Rinker,
United States Curtis Strange
3 Feb 10, 1985 Hawaiian Open 67-66-65-69=267 −21 1 stroke United States Craig Stadler
4 Jan 29, 1989 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 66-68-73-70=277 −11 1 stroke United States Tom Kite
5 Feb 4, 1990 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 67-73-69-72=281 −7 2 strokes United States Kenny Perry
6 Oct 7, 1990 H.E.B. Texas Open 64-68-66-63=261 −19 1 stroke United States Gary Hallberg
7 Oct 19, 1991 Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic 66-66-71-64=267 −21 1 stroke United States David Peoples
8 Feb 2, 1992 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 69-68-68-70=275 −13 Playoff United States Jeff Sluman
9 Mar 12, 1995 Honda Classic 68-65-71-71=275 −9 1 stroke England Nick Faldo
10 Sep 10, 1995 Bell Canadian Open 72-67-68-67=274 −14 Playoff United States Bob Lohr
11 Jan 7, 1996 Mercedes Championships 68-69-66-68=271 −17 3 strokes England Nick Faldo, United States Scott Hoch
12 Apr 28, 1996 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic 75-68-62-69=274 −14 2 strokes United States Duffy Waldorf
13 Feb 2, 1997 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 67-67-67-67=268 −20 1 stroke United States David Duval, United States Tiger Woods
14 Feb 9, 1997 Buick Invitational 67-66-71-71=275 −13 2 strokes United States David Ogrin, United States Donnie Hammond,
Sweden Jesper Parnevik, United States Craig Stadler,
United States Lee Janzen, United States Mike Hulbert,
United States Duffy Waldorf
15 Apr 12, 1998 Masters Tournament 74-70-68-67=279 −9 1 stroke United States Fred Couples, United States David Duval
16 Jul 19, 1998 The Open Championship 72-68-72-68=280 E Playoff United States Brian Watts

PGA Tour playoff record (3–4)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1981 Tallahassee Open United States Dave Eichelberger, United States Bob Murphy Eichelberger won with birdie on first extra hole
2 1983 Phoenix Open United States Rex Caldwell, United States Bob Gilder,
United States Johnny Miller
Gilder won with birdie on eighth extra hole
Miller and O'Meara eliminated with birdie on second hole
3 1991 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic United States Corey Pavin Lost to birdie on first extra hole
4 1992 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic United States John Cook, United States Rick Fehr,
United States Tom Kite, United States Gene Sauers
Cook won with eagle on fourth extra hole
Fehr eliminated with birdie on second hole
Kite and O'Meara eliminated with birdie on first hole
5 1992 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am United States Jeff Sluman Won with par on first extra hole
6 1995 Bell Canadian Open United States Bob Lohr Won with par on first extra hole
7 1998 The Open Championship United States Brian Watts O'Meara (4-4-5-4=17) defeated Watts (5-4-5-5=19)
in four-hole aggregate playoff

European Tour wins (4)

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

Other wins (11)

Champions Tour wins (2)

Legend
Champions Tour major championships (1)
Other Champions Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Apr 25, 2010 Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf
(with Nick Price)
62-64-62=188 −28 Playoff United States John Cook & United States Joey Sindelar
2 Oct 10, 2010 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship 68-68-69-68=273 −7 Playoff United States Michael Allen

Major championships

Wins (2)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreTo parMargin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
1998 Masters Tournament 2 shot deficit 74-70-68-67=279−9 1 stroke United States Fred Couples, United States David Duval
1998 The Open Championship 2 shot deficit 72-68-72-68=280 E Playoff 1United States Brian Watts

1 Defeated Brian Watts in 4-hole playoff: O'Meara (4-4-5-4=17), Watts (5-4-5-5=19)

Results timeline

Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP 24 48 T24 T39 T11
U.S. Open CUT CUT 58 DNP T7 T15 T41 CUT T3 CUT
The Open Championship DNP T47 DNP DNP DNP T3 T43 T66 27 T42
PGA Championship DNP T70 DNP CUT T25 T28 CUT CUT T9 CUT
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament CUT T27 T4 T21 T15 T31 T18 T30 1 T31
U.S. Open CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT DNP T16 T36 T32 CUT
The Open Championship T48 T3 T12 CUT DNP T49 T33 T38 1 CUT
PGA Championship T19 CUT CUT CUT DNP T6 T26 T13 T4 T57
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament CUT T20 CUT T8 T27 T31 CUT CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open T51 CUT T18 T35 DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT DNP
The Open Championship T26 T42 T22 T65 T30 CUT T63 T60 CUT T70
PGA Championship T46 T22 CUT CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Masters Tournament CUT CUT DNP CUT CUT T22 CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT CUT DNP T58 DNP T78 T63
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 1 0 0 2 3 11 32 19
U.S. Open 0 0 1 1 2 5 23 11
The Open Championship 1 0 2 3 3 5 30 24
PGA Championship 0 0 0 1 3 7 22 12
Totals 2 0 3 7 11 28 107 66

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionshipWinning scoreTo parMarginRunner-up
2010 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship 68-68-69-68=273 −7 Playoff1 United States Michael Allen

1Defeated Allen in a sudden-death playoff.

Senior results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2016.

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
The Tradition T14 T31 T11 T38 T12 DNP T36 T35 T38 T17
Senior PGA Championship T12 T24 T14 4 T18 DNP 4 DNP T45 T14
Senior Players Championship T31 T32 T9 1 5 DNP T39 T6 WD T36
Senior British Open Championship T2 T34 T25 DNP T39 DNP T26 DNP WD T18
U.S. Senior Open T11 CUT T6 CUT 2 DNP 19 T38 WD CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for a win. Yellow background for top-10.

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

See also

References

  1. "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  2. McAllister, Mike (October 15, 2014). "Class of 2015 Hall of Famers receive surprise calls". PGA Tour.
  3. Foster, Chris (March 9, 2007). "O'Meara Comes Home For Toshiba Classic". Long Beach State.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
  4. Zullo, Allan (2001). Astonishing but True Golf Facts. Forest Fairview, North Carolina: Andrew McMeels Publishing. ISBN 978-0740714269.
  5. An Interview with: Mark O'Meara Archived October 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. "O'Meara withdraws from Masters before 1st round". April 5, 2012. Archived from the original on April 7, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  7. "Former champ Mark O'Meara to miss British Open". July 10, 2012.
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