Another Major Mark

SOUTHPORT, England —  That Mark O’Meara has had quite a career, all right, most of it in the last three months.

The round-faced 41-year-old who won exactly zero of the first 56 majors he played, now has won two of his last three.

On a muggy Sunday at Royal Birkdale, with the sky the color of graphite and supercharged clouds of pressure hanging low and heavy, O’Meara added the British Open to his sudden new collection of major titles.

O’Meara, whose victory at the Masters in April was his first major championship in an 18-year career, defeated unheralded Brian Watts in a playoff after beginning the day two shots behind.

To win the Masters, O’Meara needed to birdie three of the last four holes, but here he needed only one birdie in the last four holes--a seven-footer at No. 17 after he drove into the rough--to force a playoff at even-par 280, a playoff which Tiger Woods missed joining by one shot.

O’Meara went birdie, par, par, par in the four-hole playoff, beat Watts by two strokes, lifted the Claret Jug high and then tried to figure out how a 40-something guy with a seamless swing and smooth putting motion just starts piling up majors.

“If I could put my finger on it, I would have done it a little earlier in my career,” O’Meara said. “It’s just not that easy.”

It certainly didn’t come easy this time. O’Meara’s closing 68 was just enough to catch Watts, who finished with a 70 that included a heart-stopping bunker shot on the 72nd hole.

With one foot in the bunker and one foot out, the ball on a downhill lie and few expecting the 32-year-old Oklahoman who plays on the Japanese Tour to get even close, he did just that, blasting out to 10 inches to force the playoff.

Even O’Meara had to clap as he sat next to the green and watched.

“That was as good as any shot I’ve ever seen in a pressure situation,” O’Meara said.

Chances are the pressure would have been raised a little bit if Woods had been included in the playoff. He didn’t miss it by much, not with a final-round 66 that included a 30-foot chip-in for birdie on the 17th and a snake-like 30-foot birdie putt at the 18th.

But Woods was one shot short and had to settle for third place, a position that might have been quite different if not for four three-putts in his third round in Saturday’s gales.

“You could beat yourself up forever,” Woods said. “You have to look at the positive. The fact is, I started out good, finished good and hit a lot of good shots this week.

“And most importantly, I came back today and birdied three of the last four holes when I was kind of out of it.”

For a great deal of time, there weren’t many players out of it. Jesper Parnevik had trouble keeping the ball on the fairway and shot a 70. Justin Rose, the 17-year-old amateur qualifier from England, holed out on the 18th hole from 45 yards and caught Parnevik, Raymond Russell of Scotland and Jim Furyk for fourth at two-over 282.

Furyk was tied with O’Meara and Watts after 13 holes, but he bogeyed the par-five 15th to fall by the wayside. Russell’s four-under-par 66 equaled Woods’ for the day’s best, but he never seriously challenged.

With Woods in the clubhouse, O’Meara through 16 holes and Watts through 15, they were all tied for the lead at one-over. O’Meara went ahead when he rolled in an 18-foot putt to birdie the 17th. But Watts, playing in the last group with Parnevik, came right back with a nervy 20-footer that dropped in the hole for a birdie at 17.

O’Meara finished at the par-four No. 18 with a face-saving par putt after leaving his birdie putt four feet short, then took a seat and waited for Watts.

It was quite an adventure. Watts missed the fairway to the left with the ball ending up in the short rough and his second shot found a bunker in front and to the left of the green.

All that was riding on his bunker shot was the chance for a new beginning for Watts, who failed in his one and only year on the PGA Tour in 1991. He simply blasted out, rolled in the tap-in putt, signed his scorecard, and then headed back out on the course for the playoff.

Watts missed a four-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole, the 15th, missed another birdie putt from 12 feet on the next hole and needed a 10-foot par putt on 17 to stay in it.

O’Meara birdied the 15th from five feet and made two-putt pars on the other playoff holes.

Watts found a backside bunker on 18 and bogeyed the hole.

Still, not a bad week.

Second place was worth $329,000 to Watts, which will easily place him in this year’s top 125 on the PGA Tour money list and earn him playing privileges for next year. But Watts was reluctant to discuss what doors had opened for him.

“I’m not thinking about any doors,” he said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, to be honest with you. I don’t know how much money I’ve won.”

Meanwhile, O’Meara won $520,000 and a place in history.

This is the fourth consecutive year that a U.S. player has won the British Open, the first time that’s happened since 1980-83 (Tom Watson, Bill Rogers, Watson, Watson). O’Meara also becomes the oldest player to win two majors in one year--Jack Nicklaus was 40 in 1980 and Ben Hogan was 40 in 1958.

In his opinion, age isn’t that relevant, O’Meara said.

“The golf ball doesn’t know how old you are,” he said.

The last time the British Open was held at Royal Birkdale, O’Meara tied for third after leading through three rounds. That was 1991, when close friend and Florida neighbor Ian Baker-Finch won and invited him to drink from the Claret Jug some time later.

O’Meara quickly agreed to sip from the trophy.

“I thought it would be the closest I ever got to it,” O’Meara said.

He was wrong.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

LEADERS

280 (E)--$520,000

x-Mark O’Meara 72-68-72-68

280 (E)--$329,000

Brian Watts 68-69-73-70

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281 (+1)--$236,250

Tiger Woods 65-73-77-66

*

282 (+2)--$134,167

Jesper Parnevik 68-72-72-70

Jim Furyk 70-70-72-70

Raymond Russell 68-73-75-66

*

282 (+2)

a-Justin Rose 72-66-75-69

MULTIPLE MAJORS

Winners of two or more majors in a year since the Masters began play in 1934:

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1941 Craig Wood Masters, U.S. Open 1948 Ben Hogan U.S. Open, PGA 1949 Sam Snead Masters, PGA 1951 Ben Hogan Masters, U.S. Open 1953 Ben Hogan Masters, U.S. Open, British Open 1956 Jack Burke Jr. Masters, PGA 1960 Arnold Palmer Masters, U.S. Open 1962 Arnold Palmer Masters, British Open 1963 Jack Nicklaus Masters, PGA 1966 Jack Nicklaus Masters, British Open 1971 Lee Trevino U.S. Open, British Open 1972 Jack Nicklaus Masters, U.S. Open 1974 Gary Player Masters, British Open 1975 Jack Nicklaus Masters, PGA 1977 Tom Watson Masters, British Open 1980 Jack Nicklaus U.S. Open, PGA 1982 Tom Watson U.S. Open, British Open 1990 Nick Faldo Masters, British Open 1994 Nick Price British Open, PGA 1998 Mark O’Meara Masters, British Open

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