Mark O'Meara

Mark O'Meara
Personal information
Full name	Mark Francis O'Meara
Born	January 13, 1957 (1957-01-13) 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
Career
College	Long Beach State University
Turned professional	1980
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour (joined 2007)
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour (joined 1992)
Professional wins	34
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	16
European Tour	4
Japan Golf Tour	2
Champions Tour	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
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 Rankings from their debut in 1986 to 2000.

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, and won the U.S. Amateur in 1979, defeating John Cook. 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 The Masters came at his 15th attempt, which is still a record. 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. In the same year he won the Cisco World Match Play Championship and he reached a career best of second in the Official World Golf Rankings.

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 demeanour, 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.

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 has begun to develop a golf course design practice and enjoys fishing in his off time.

Professional wins (34)

PGA Tour wins (16)

Legend Major championships (2) Other PGA Tour (14)

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

PGA Tour playoff record (3–4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1981	Tallahassee Open	Dave Eichelberger, Bob Murphy	Eichelberger won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1983	Phoenix Open	Rex Caldwell, Bob Gilder, 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	Corey Pavin	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
4	1992	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	John Cook, Rick Fehr, Tom Kite, 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	Jeff Sluman	Won with par on first extra hole
6	1995	Bell Canadian Open	Bob Lohr	Won with par on first extra hole
7	1998	British Open	Brian Watts	O'Meara (4-4-5-4=17) defeated Watts (5-4-5-5=19) in four-hole playoff

European Tour wins (4)

• 1987 Lawrence Batley International
• 1997 Trophée Lancôme
• 1998 The Open Championship
• 2004 Dubai Desert Classic

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

• 1985 Fujisankei Classic
• 1992 Tokai Classic

Other wins (11)

• 1985 Isuzu Kapalua International (unofficial PGA Tour event)
• 1986 Australian Masters
• 1989 RMCC Invitational (with Curtis Strange)
• 1994 Argentine Open, Fred Meyer Challenge (with John Cook)
• 1998 Cisco World Match Play Championship (Europe – unofficial event), Skins Game (U.S. – unofficial event)
• 1999 World Cup (with Tiger Woods)
• 2000 Fred Meyer Challenge (with John Cook)
• 2002 Skins Game (U.S. – unofficial event)
• 2007 Champions Challenge (with Mike Reid)

Champions Tour wins (2)

• 2010 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Nick Price), Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1998	Masters Tournament	2 shot deficit	−9 (74–70–68–67=279)	1 stroke	Fred Couples, David Duval
1998	The Open Championship	2 shot deficit	E (72–68–72–68=280)	Playoff 1	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
The Masters	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
The Masters	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
The Masters	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
The Masters	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	CUT
PGA Championship	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

• Starts – 95
• Wins – 2
• 2nd place finishes – 0
• Top 3 finishes – 3
• Top 5 finishes – 5
• Top 10 finishes – 11
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
2010	Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship	−7 (68–68–69–68=273)	Playoff1	Michael Allen

¹Defeated Allen in a sudden-death playoff.

Senior results timeline

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
The Tradition	T14	T31	T11	T38	T12
Senior PGA Championship	T12	T24	T14	4	T18
Senior British Open Championship	T2	T34	T25	DNP	T39
U.S. Senior Open	T11	CUT	T6	CUT	2
Senior Players Championship	T31	T32	T9	1	5

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

United States national team appearances

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1985, 1989 (tie), 1991 (winners), 1997, 1999 (winners)
• Presidents Cup: 1996 (winners), 1998
• Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners)
• World Cup: 1999 (winners)

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Most wins in one PGA Tour event

External links

• Mark O'Meara at the PGA Tour official site
• Mark O'Meara at the European Tour official site
• Mark O'Meara at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• The official Mark O'Meara Design web site
• Long Beach State.com – Mark O'Meara comes home – March 9, 2007 – from The L.A. Times