It is likely that his is the only case, and the fact that the last two victories of his ‘regular’ career on the American Tour, before starting his senior stage, were two majors is something out of the ordinary. He was then 41 years old and until then he had not won in the Grand Slam.
Mark Francis O’Meara (January 13, 1957) is a golfer with a long victorious career. Not in vain, the American player, winner of two majors, spent nearly 200 weeks in the world top-10, from his debut in 1986 until the year 2000. His triumphs, most of them achieved from the mid 80’s to the end of the 90’s, were not limited to the American Tour -the PGA Tour-, but took place in several continents. O’Meara was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, but grew up in California, in Mission Viejo, and began playing golf at the age of 13 near the Mission Viejo Country Club. He later became an employee of the club and played on his high school golf team. He won the U.S. Open Amateur in 1979, defeating John Cook.
After graduating in Marketing, in 1980 he became a professional golfer, passed the Qualifying School and the following year joined the PGA Tour. His first victory on the American Tour came in 1984, at the Greater Milwaukee Open. O’Meara finished five times second that season, and finished the year second on the money list (he was top-10 on that list in 1985, ’90, ’96 and ’97 as well). In 1985 he added two more victories, including the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, a tournament O’Meara would go on to win four more times.
O’Meara’s best years were from 1995 to 1998, when he won twice a season. In 1997 he scored two victories on the PGA Tour and another on the European Tour. The pinnacle of his career would be 1998, when in addition to the Masters, which he won with a birdie on the last hole, O’Meara also won the British Open and the World Match Play Championship in England, beating Tiger Wood by 1 up in the 36-hole final.
O’Meara, then 41 years old, attributed his good game to the inspiration of working with Tiger Woods, the rising star of golf at the time, whom he became close friends with. That same year he was second in the world rankings, his best position in that global ranking.
O’Meara would not win again on the PGA Tour, and his last victory, before his senior stage, took place in 2004 and was at the Dubai Desert Classic, a tournament belonging to the European Tour. His journey on the American Tour would end with a total of 16 victories and 22 second places.
O’Meara often competed outside the United States, and scored victories in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. In the new millennium he began to have several injuries, although in 2004 he won an official event for the first time since 1998, the aforementioned Dubai Desert Classic.
In 2007, he played his first season on the Champions Tour, for golfers over 50 years old. In his first three years as a senior, he had many top-10 finishes, including several second place finishes. His first Champions Tour victory came last year at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. Shortly thereafter he scored his first major on the tour, the Constellation Enery Senior Player Championship.
O’Meara now also enjoys designing golf courses and has more free time for one of his favorite hobbies: fishing.
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