THE OPEN 2017 END OF AN O’MEARA
After 31 years and one precious Claret Jug victory popular Amercian says goodbye to The Open
Thankfully the first spits of Friday’s deluge were only felt as Mark O’Meara walked off Birkdale’s 18th green for the last time.
For it would have been a shame if the brutal weather had rained on the American’s farewell parade in his 31st and last Open appearance.
Standing in front of that distinctive art deco clubhouse, its gleaming white walls seeming even brighter against the backdrop of the gathering gloom, O’Meara couldn’t have picked a better spot to take his final bow.
After all it was here 19 years before that he stood lapping up the applause as he lifted the Claret Jug as the 1998 Champion Golfer of the Year.
But as the 60- year- old walked away from his last Open he paused for a moment of reflection stretching all the way back to his first in 1981, when his love affair with the tournament began in exalted, frankly intimidating, company.
O’Meara said: “My first Open was in 1981. And I remember playing at Royal St George’s, it was the year that Bill Rogers won.
“But Tuesday I played a practice round with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros. So here’s this young whippersnapper playing with these three legends.
“It’s a little intimidating, let’s face it. It would be intimidating for anyone when you play with those great players. But they were good with me. I mean, listen, those guys are class acts.
“And I just remember on the first tee that we were going to play for 20 bucks or $25 or whatever but I didn’t have any money.
“I remember both Gary and Seve giving Jack the needle, ‘Listen, Jack, we’re going to pay today. Because whenever you lose we don’t see you. No matter what happens today somebody is going to get paid’.
“And I was like, I hope I don’t lose too much. I don’t have that much money. But I think Jack and I actually won that day.”
As debuts go that was quite a baptism of fire but O’Meara took quickly to this championship despite the alien nature of links golf to a kid from sunkissed North Carolina.
A tie for 47th place was a
My name’s on my golf bag, I’ve won The Open, I’m in the Hall of Fame … I can’t be hitting one straight off the tee out of bounds
creditable start but undoubtedly the highlight was to come in 1998 when he defeated Brian Watts in a play-off to claim The Open title to go with the US Masters triumph he’d claimed three months before.
The love affair with his favourite championship has endured ever since until yesterday when he took those final steps on his Open journey, just grateful to be able to walk away with his head held high after a nightmare start on Thursday.
With the honour of hitting the first tee shot of this year’s Open, O’Meara was hugely embarrassed when he blocked it straight right and out of bounds on his way to a quadruple bogey eight. So to bounce back from an opening 81 with a tremendous levelpar 70 in his swansong round was a pleasant piece of redemption to allow him to finish on a high.
He said: “It was disappointing to start like I did yesterday. “But I felt good about hanging in there and shooting a pretty quality score today. So there’s a little bit of life in the old dog. I was not pleased when I hit that shot on the first. I don’t think anybody would be.
“My name is on my golf bag, I’ve won The Open, I’m in the Hall of Fame – I can’t be hitting one straight right off the first tee out of bounds. I expect better. It would be like standing on the first tee on the Ballybunion and hitting the graveyard.
“My day was toast after that first tee shot but I still had to play and I’m pleased how I hung in to play respectably and finish in this way.
“I felt the warmth of the crowd coming up the 18th hole.
“I’m not Tom Watson, I’m not Jack Nicklaus, I’m not Arnold Palmer – I’m just a guy who in ’98 was lucky to win the championship and hoist the Claret Jug and be proclaimed Champion Golfer of the Year.
“And my son, being nine, and my daughter, 11 at the time, and Michelle, to be alongside me this week was very special.
“But I’ll miss this championship. This is the greatest championship. I know there are three other Majors but I truly believe that the Open championship is the top of the list.
“I look back and take into account all the blessings and all the great things that have happened to me in The Open. Whether it’s making the cut last year at Troon and at St Andrews, making the cut when I was inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Then the times that I remember competing against players coming down the stretch.
“Certainly in the playoff here in ’98 I remember distinctly what I felt like in ’91 when I played with Ian BakerFinch in the final group coming up the last hole and watching him win the championship. Being happy for my friend because he’s a great guy.
“And then seven years later when I won, after I did all the media stuff and I was in the clubhouse, there was a guy who came up and put his hands on my shoulder –Baker-Finch.
“He had a tear in his eye because I had won The Open seven years after he had won. So that shows how hard all of us fight and compete against each other and try to beat each others’ brains in.
“Push comes to shove, there’s only one person who’s going to be The Open Championship winner at the end of the year.”