Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is an American retired

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. He was a tournament winner on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

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 The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

from their debut in 1986 to 2000. He won two major championships, the 1998 Masters Tournament and the 1998 Open Championship, becoming the oldest player to win two majors in one year. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015.

Early years

O'Meara was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, but grew up in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, specifically in

Mission Viejo Mission Viejo ( ; language change, corruption of ; ) is a Commuter town, commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest Planned community, master-planned commu ...

. He took up golf at age 13, sneaking on to the nearb
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-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n at Long Beach State, and won the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

in 1979, defeating defending champion John Cook, 8 and 7, in the final. He also won the California State Amateur Championship that year. O'Meara was a former resident of

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

and once lived in the same neighborhood as

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

. The two became good friends and frequently golfed together during this time. Today, O'Meara resides in Southern Highlands, Nevada.

Professional career

After graduating with a degree in marketing in 1980, O'Meara turned professional and would win 16 events on the

, beginning with the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1984, and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am five times. His best year as a professional golfer came relatively late in his career – in 1998 at age 41 – when he won two majors:

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major golf championships, men's major championships in Professional golf tours, professional golf. Schedul ...

and the British Open. O'Meara's victory in The Masters came during his 15th attempt. O'Meara attributed this resurgence partly to the inspiration of working with

, 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 reached a career best of second in the

. 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 The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

event. After the European Tour tournament Lancome Trophy at Golf de

Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. History Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche was built around 4 core hamlets near the Forest of M ...

, 30 km west of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in September

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, which was won by O'Meara, he was involved in a controversy. Runner-up was Jarmo Sandelin of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. A television viewer in Sweden observed that, on the 15th green in the final round, O'Meara, facing a two and a half foot putt, had replaced his ball half an inch closer to the hole than had been indicated by his marker. Sandelin wrote to O'Meara in March 1998, sent a video recording of the incident and asked for an explanation. O'Meara insisted he had not intended to gain any advantage and sought advice from the PGA and European Tours, who informed him that the tournament was over and the result stood. Sandelin went public with the story and demanded that O'Meara should hand back the trophy and the prize money. O'Meara admitted in April 1998, he may, without intention, have broken the rules of golf on his way to winning the 1997 Lancome Trophy.

Champions Tour

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, 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 The Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. From 2014 to 2019, it was played at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri, on the par-3 Top of the Rock course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and the ...

with

Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-1 ...

, 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. O'Meara has begun to develop a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

design practice and enjoys fishing in his off time. He is currently a brand ambassador for Pacific Links International. In March 2019, O'Meara won the Cologuard Classic in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. He shot a final round seven-under 66, to win by four shots. This win ended an eight-year win drought on the PGA Tour Champions. O'Meara retired in September 2024 after the PURE Insurance Championship, having announced that it would be his last professional event, and missing the cut.

Awards and recognition

Following his two major wins in 1998, O'Meara received that year's

BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year The BBC World Sport Star of the Year (formerly known as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year) is an award presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson c ...

, an award given to a non-British sportsperson considered to have made the most substantial contribution to a sport in a year. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015.

Amateur wins

*1979

, California State Amateur Championship

Professional wins (34)

PGA Tour wins (16)

PGA Tour playoff record (3–4)

European Tour wins (5)

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

South American Tour wins (1)

*1994 Argentine Open

Other wins (8)

Other playoff record (3–0)

PGA Tour Champions wins (3)

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (2–2)

Major championships

Wins (2)

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

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (1995 Masters – 1999 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1998 Open Championship – 1998 PGA)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
WD = Withdrew
NT = No tournament

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order before 2022.'' CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

U.S. national team appearances

Professional *

Alfred Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championsh ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, 1986,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

(winners),

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

(tie),

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

(winners),

(winners) * Nissan Cup: 1985 (winners) *

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

(winners),

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(winners) *

UBS Cup The UBS Cup was a team golf tournament contested by the United States and a team representing the "Rest of the World" which ran from 2001 to 2004. In 2001 and 2002 it was called the UBS Warburg Cup. Six golfers on each side had to be 50 or over, and ...

: 2001 (winners), 2002 (winners), 2003 (tie)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Omeara, Mark American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Winners of men's major golf championships Winners of senior major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from North Carolina Golfers from California Golfers from Texas BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners California State University, Long Beach alumni Mission Viejo High School alumni Sportspeople from Goldsboro, North Carolina 1957 births Living people Presidents Cup competitors for the United States 20th-century American sportsmen

Early years

Professional career

Champions Tour

Awards and recognition

Amateur wins

Professional wins (34)

PGA Tour wins (16)

European Tour wins (5)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

South American Tour wins (1)

Other wins (8)

PGA Tour Champions wins (3)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

Summary

Results in The Players Championship

Results in World Golf Championships

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

U.S. national team appearances

See also

References

External links