Rinker’s Golf Tips Mark O’Meara Hall of Fame Inductee said it was a “Dream Come True,” when he got the call he had been waiting for in regard to being elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. “It’s going to be a tremendous honor on Monday of the British Open at St. Andrews. Getting on Tour with a Volkswagen Rabbit, paid for our range balls, and we had it better than the guys before us. $300,000 was a big purse and then a $500,000 purse, nobody’s going to miss that one, we’re there.”
Mark would start to play golf at the Mission Viejo Country Club by his home in Southern California where he first took his mom’s clubs to the golf course to hit some balls on the range. His dad would join there and become President and “golf really became my friend. Something I could do without finding a bunch of other guys to hang out with.” 1979 was a breakout year for Mark where he won some college events, was an All-American, and was starting to play better. “The Monterey Peninsula is the prettiest place in the world.” Mark would win the state amateur at Pebble Beach beating Lennie Clements 8 & 7. Later that summer he would beat his good friend John Cook, who was defending, in the U.S. Amateur at Canterbury in Cleveland, Ohio. After trailing 2 down after 4, O’Meara won the next five holes and had a 3 up lead after 9 holes. Mark was 8 up playing the ninth hole, his 27th, and he thought, “If I lose this, this is going to be the biggest collapse in golf. Wait a minute, let’s keep playing my game. I never thought about winning until that.” Mark would win on 11, 8 & 7.
Mark would qualify for the PGA Tour in the fall of 1980 with Fred Couples and in 1981 the Bob Hope Classic gave him an exemption. “In those days if you made the cut you were in the next tournament.” Mark would only have to qualify on Monday twice, at L.A. and San Diego which were ironically the two closest tournaments to his home. He made both of them and said, “Earning it the right way is better,” than getting an exemption. “A good process is to get in contention feel what that’s like, maybe not be successful right way, and keep working, keep practicing, work on your weaknesses, and learn how to handle the pressure.”
Putting: Just like Gary Koch, Mark said, “It’s all about speed. Everybody wants to make putts, that’s a given. Getting the feel and speed of the greens helps to eliminate three putting. When you go out to practice, work on speed.” Mark talked about being nervous during the 1998 Masters and said that no one is immune to being scared. On the 10th hole in the first round, “I kind of yipped it, shot 74, and putted terrible.” Mark got with Hank Haney after the round and they worked on his set-up and changed some things, but that’s not easy when the greens at Augusta are like the “front hood of your car!” Friday Mark shot 70, made the cut and then on Saturday shot 68 when he was still “not that confident over the putter.” Mark found himself in the final group on Sunday with Fred Couples and walking off the 16th green he said to his caddie, “That’s as good of a six iron as I can hit. That’s as good of a putt as I can hit,” that missed for birdie. “Give me another ball and I’m going to birdie the last two! I birdied 17 and said on the 18th green, sooner or later I have to make a putt, so give it your best effort. I hit a good putt and it curled in the left side of the cup and I realized I had won the Masters.” I asked Mark about his relationship with Tiger and if Tiger had helped him to believe in himself and changed his attitude. Mark said, “If Tiger hadn’t come into my life, it certainly might not have happened. He was my little brother for 10 years and we did everything together. I benefited and he did too. Tiger putting the green jacket on me was a dream come true.” Look for Mark O’Meara on the Champion’s Tour in 2015 and the World Golf Hall of Fame Induction ceremony on Monday of the British Open.