Mark O'Meara
Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is an American professional golfer. He was a 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. 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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. After the European Tour tournament Lancome Trophy at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, 30 km west of Paris, France in September 1997, which was won by O'Meara, he was involved in a controversy. Runner-up was Jarmo Sandelin of Sweden. 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. 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. 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. In March 2019, O'Meara won the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Arizona. 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. Professional wins (33). PGA Tour wins (16). PGA Tour playoff record (3–4) European Tour wins (5). European Tour playoff record (1–0) Other wins (8). Other playoff record (3–0) PGA Tour Champions wins (3). PGA Tour Champions playoff record (2–2) Major championships . Wins (2). Defeated 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. Results in The Players Championship. CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place Results in World Golf Championships. Cancelled 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. Results timeline. "Results not in chronological order before 2021." CUT  = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic U.S. national team appearances. Professional