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Major round O'Meara storms back with record-setting 63
Updated: Friday August 17, 2001 5:00 PM
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -- Mark O'Meara has been known more for being the best friend of Tiger Woods than for winning the Masters and British Open in 1998. There certainly wasn't much to note about his golf game in the past three years. That all changed Friday when the 44-year-old O'Meara came charging out of the pack at the PGA Championship with a 7-under 63, tying the low score for a major and setting the course record at Atlanta Athletic Club's Highlands Course. O'Meara had a chance to shoot 62, but left his 18-foot birdie putt 3 feet short on No. 18 and finished near the leaders with a two-day total of 5-under 135. "I wasn't aware," O'Meara said when asked if he knew a 62 would be a first at a major. "Thank God, I probably would have missed the second." O'Meara surprised the golf world three years ago as an aging veteran, at 41 becoming the oldest player to win two majors in the same year. And he almost won a third, finishing tied for fourth in the PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club. But since that magical year, O'Meara has just one top-10 finish in each of the last two years. He's now asked more questions about his good buddy Woods than his own game.
Part of it is O'Meara's own doing. He decided to travel and do his share of fly fishing after his instant star status in '98. He said he has no regrets. "I feel like I've been in the ring for a long time and pushed really hard, there's no reason why I shouldn't back off a little bit and enjoy the fruits of the labor," O'Meara said. "If I play well -- great. If I don't, it's not the end of the world. For me, when I get out of my own way and I don't put a lot of pressure on myself, I tend to do better." Playing partners Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia saw plenty of good shots from O'Meara on this steamy day as he hit 16 of 18 greens and 12 of 14 fairways. O'Meara got a pitching wedge within 10 feet on No. 1 and sank it for a birdie and he was off and running. The key to O'Meara's round was taming the course's difficult par-3s. He birdied three of the four, making putts of 12 18 and 35 feet for three of his seven birdies. O'Meara shot a 2-over 72 in the first round, but said he played well. "I just had to keep believing I was hitting the ball better," he said. Furyk, who had a second-round 64, said he's played frequently with O'Meara. He noted that he never changed his outlook, even in the lean years. "He's pretty much the same whether he's shooting 75 or 65," Furyk said. "He has a pretty good attitude. For that reason he's a good guy to play with because he's not a distraction. He's not going to get so excited when he's playing great and he's not going to get really down and start banging clubs when he's playing bad." The most excitement O'Meara showed was on No. 18 when he received a warm reception from the crowd, who cheered him on as his stellar round built during the morning hours. "Most of the people out there watching are my age," he said. "Everybody kept saying, 'Hey, do it for the old guys.' I'm like, 'Wait a minute, I'm getting up there, but I still have five or six years before I get a cart.'" O'Meara became the 20th golfer to shoot a 63 in a major, the last being Jose Maria Olazabal in the third round of the 2000 PGA Championship. So what should we expect from O'Meara in Saturday's third round? "I certainly didn't come into this tournament with the same confidence level as Phil or David or Tiger," O'Meara said. "Those guys have played tremendous golf over the last three years. "I am just happy to be kind of hitting some better shots. I'm not greedy. If can play well and give myself an opportunity to win, then hopefully I can remember the past things that have helped me win those major championships."
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