Mark O'Meara - Part 1 (The Early Years)

Mark O’Meara, World Golf Hall of Fame Inductee and winner of two major championships, shares his earliest memories of learning the game growing up in Mission Viejo, CA. He enjoyed success at a young age as an All-American at Long Beach State and winning the 1979 U.S. Amateur Championship at Canterbury GC over defending champ and childhood friend, John Cook. As a 23-year-old, Mark found himself at Augusta National, teeing it up with the defending champion, Fuzzy Zoeller, at the Masters and then with Hale Irwin (defending champ) and Seve Ballesteros (reigning Open and Masters champ) at the U.S. Open at Baltusrol. Turning pro later that year, Mark earned PGA Rookie of the Year in his first full season on Tour. Mark O’Meara recounts his early years, “FORE the Good of the Game.”

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About

"FORE the Good of the Game” is a golf podcast featuring interviews with World Golf Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around the game of golf. Highlighting the positive aspects of the game, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by PGA Tour star Bruce Devlin, our podcast focuses on telling their life stories, in their voices. Join Bruce and Mike Gonzalez “FORE the Good of the Game.”

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O'Meara, Mark

Professional Golfer

Unlike most professional golfers, Mark O’Meara’s path to golf was a solitary journey. Though he was born in North Carolina, by the time he was 13 he had lived in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Texas, California and Illinois before his family finally settled in Mission Viejo, California.

Struggling to make friends and mesh into his new neighborhood, O’Meara borrowed his mother’s golf clubs and walked to nearby Mission Viejo Country Club. As O’Meara recalls, golf became a respite, and he enjoyed the solitude of playing by himself.

“Golf became my friend,” said O’Meara. “Those days on the golf course by myself is when I fell in love with the game.”

He found that he had a talent for golf and, after he received a used set of clubs for Christmas, he began to get serious about his game. He lettered on his high school golf team and received a scholarship to play golf for Long Beach State University, where he was an All-American player.

To top off his college career, O’Meara won the California State Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach along with the Mexican Amateur before defeating the defending champion John Cook at the 1979 U.S. Amateur Championship at Canterbury Country Club in Cleveland, Ohio.

That victory signaled the end of a sterling amateur career. O’Meara joined the professional ranks in 1980.

“Golf became my friend. Those days on the golf course by myself is when I fell in love with the game.”
Entering the 1984 Greater Milwaukee Open at the Tuckaway Golf Club in Franklin, Wisconsin, O’Meara was feeling some pressure. Despi… Read More

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