Mark O’Meara is one of the most recognizable golfers in the world. He had a career year in 1998 when he won the Masters and the Open Championship. He also finished T-4 in the PGA Championship that year.
He was the 1998 PGA Tour Player of the Year and spent over 200 weeks in the Top-10 on the Official World Golf Rankings from 1986-2000.
He won 16 PGA Tour titles, four European Tour events and earned over $14 million in his 20 years on tour. Five of his victories came at Pebble Beach.
O’Meara was a member of five Ryder Cup teams, two Presidents Cup teams and won the 1999 World Cup teamed with Tiger Woods.
He was also a mentor to a young Tiger Woods when Woods first joined the PGA Tour. O’Meara encouraged Woods to take residence at Isleworth in Orlando and helped him adapt to PGA Tour life.
Fred Couples and Colin Montgomerie will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.
Couples only had one major win at the 1992 Masters. He did have 15 PGA Tour wins and was one of the most popular players of all time.
Colin Montgomerie did not have a major win or a win on the PGA Tour. With 31 wins he was a legend on the European Tour. He played on eight European Ryder Cup teams and was the successful European Ryder Cup Captain in 2010 at Celtic Manor.
Both Couples and Montgomerie had outstanding careers and are certainly deserving of Hall of Fame membership, but what about Mark O’Meara?
He is not flashy nor is a self promoter. The fact remains, however, that for over 20 years Mark O’Meara was one of the best golfers in the world.
Isn’t it time that he is recognized for his outstanding career on the PGA Tour and get a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame?