Former Masters and Open champion announces his retirement from the professional game at Pebble Beach this week.
Two-time major champion Mark O’Meara will retire from professional golf on the PGA Tour Champions at Pebble Beach this week.
O’Meara, 67, won 16 times on the PGA Tour highlighted by two major titles at the age of 41 in 1998 at The Masters at Augusta National and The Open at Royal Birkdale.
The American closed with rounds of 68 and 67 to see out a narrow one-shot victory over Fred Couples and David Duval at The Masters, and he saw off Brian Watts in a four-hole playoff to etch his name on the famous Claret Jug.
He also won five times on the European Tour, twice in Japan and once in Australia.
O’Meara will say an emotional goodbye from the professional game at this week’s PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach, a venue where he has won the iconic AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour five times, a record he shares with Phil Mickelson.
Scroll to the right on the video below to hear from O’Meara…
“I mean there will be a tear in my eye, there was certainly a tear in my eye at Augusta National when I played my final Masters in 2018,” said O’Meara.
“It was the same at The Open Championship in 2017 back at Birkdale where I was fortunate to win The Open in ’98.
“I think knowing I can walk away from the game at such a special place like Pebble Beach, it’s been so wonderful to me and to my family and the experiences that I’ve had there, yeah, it’s going to be a little tough but celebrated more than anything else.
“I would say that I look at what’s happened and transpired in my life, and certainly golf, I owe so much to the game, and I realised how blessed I am to have played this wonderful game for such a long period of time.
“Look, I’ve done way better than I ever dreamed, and yes winning majors was great because it came at a late period of my life at 41 years of age and nobody expected me to win probably including myself, and it happened, but to travel around the world and to meet so many wonderful people, realising that to be outside in an environment on the golf course whether you’re a pro, amateur, starter, beginner, older player, you can’t pick a better game.
“As I’ve always pointed out, golf became my friend at such a young age, and what a great friend to have, and it’s still my friend, even if I don’t want to play competitively any more, I’ll still stay in touch with the game every now and then.”
Steven Alker, Bernhard Langer and current Charles Schab race leader Ernie Els start among the tournament favourites on the PGA Tour Champions this week
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