Mark O'Meara Biography

Mark O'Meara was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina on 13th January 1957. He grew up in southern California in Mission Viejo and 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. In 1979 he won the U.S. Amateur, defeating John Cook. After graduating with a degree in marketing in 1980, O'Meara turned professional

O'Meara had his first professional win in 1984 at the Greater Milwaukee Open and overall he won 16 events on the PGA Tour. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from their debut in 1986 to 2000.

In 1998 O'Meara won his first major at The Masters which was followed by another major victory at the British Open. O'Meara attributed these victories partly to the inspiration of working with Tiger Woods, with whom he 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 struggle with injuries, but in 2004 he won an official tour event for the first time since 1998, taking the Dubai Desert Classic title.

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.