1998 PGA Tour Year In Review
Mark O'Meara had a nice little career going until he got chummy with Tiger Woods . When the young phenom moved into his Isleworth, Fla. neighborhood, O'Meara became a star.
At age 41, he won the Masters with a birdie-birdie finish, then added the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, edging Brian Watts in a playoff. Would it have happened if Woods hadn't joined the block? Possibly. There seems little doubt his friendly practice rounds with Woods elevated O'Meara's game to new heights.
Prior to 1998, O'Meara was best known as a solid player, great putter and as the Prince of Pebble Beach, where five of his 15 PGA Tour victories have been achieved. A devoted family man who has never sought the limelight, the Long Beach State, Calif. graduate has exceeded personal expectations twofold and has always insisted he didn't need a major title to complete his portfolio.
Even now, after the best season of his 18-year pro career, which saw him earn $1.7 million and be selected Player of the Year by his peers, O'Meara is reluctant to call himself a great player. In that case, we'll do it for him.
Like it or not, O'Meara has joined the game's elite. He put an exclamation point on that by winning the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, England, downing Colin Montgomerie, Vijay Singh and Woods, the latter 1-up in the final. A winner of more than $2.3 million worldwide this year, O'Meara boasts career-earnings of $13.3 million, including $10.2 million on the PGA Tour.
No wonder he's usually smiling.
Not that O'Meara was the only story on the PGA Tour in 1998. Some still insist David Duval had a better a year, and statistically, they're right.
Duval won four events and banked a circuit-record $2,591,031. He had 12 Top-10 finishes, won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average (69.13) and amassed worldwide earnings of $2.7 million. The only credential the 27-year-old Duval lacked was a major, placing second to O'Meara at Augusta National.
Some are convinced Duval was more deserving of Player of the Year honors than O'Meara, insisting the vote was sentimental. Duval won seven times during a 12-month span, the most since Tom Watson in 1979-80, and made a strong case for overtaking Woods as America's best player.
But majors are what count. Nobody remembers how many Shell Opens or Michelob Championships you win
O'Meara, the oldest player to win two majors in the same year, was the toast of the tour. His aw-shucks demeanor might rub some the wrong way, but there's no arguing his heart and talent. Woods helped him take it to a new level.
What else stands out about 1998? Nick Faldo's flop, John Daly's big numbers, and Casey Martin's free ride at the U.S. Open. Daly made an 18 on the fifth hole during the final round of the Bay Hill Invitational, added 10's at the Open and Las Vegas Invitational and 9's at Masters and MCI Classic.
Martin, who suffers from a circulatory problem in his right leg, sued and beat the PGA Tour for the right to use a cart in competition. After winning the first Nike Tour event of the year, the Stanford product qualified for the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco and tied for 23rd.
Then there was the emergence of England's Lee Westwood and American amateur Matt Kuchar of Georgia Tech, and the re-emergence of 1983 PGA champ Hal Sutton, and the disappearance of Greg Norman.
Westwood won the Freeport-McDermott Classic, joining O'Meara, Woods, Ernie Els, Singh and Jesper Parnevik as the only players to win on the U.S. and European tours. The ever-smiling Kuchar endeared himself to golf fans by contending at the Masters and also played well at the U.S. Open. Sutton capped a marvelous turnaround by claiming the season-ending Tour Championship and finished fifth on the money list with a career-best $1.8 million in earnings. The last time he cracked the Top 10 was in 1986.
Plagued by shoulder problems all year, Norman underwent surgery following the Masters and missed most of the season. He returned to competition in November at his own Shark Shootout, winning with fellow Aussie Steve Elkington.
As for Woods ... he won once and retained his No. 1 world ranking. In 19 events, he managed 12 Top 10 finishes ut was often betrayed by his putter.
The biggest washout of the year occurred at Pebble Beach, where only two rounds were played at the rain-ravaged AT&T tournament. Though it was a logistical pain for all, officials rescheduled the final round for Aug. 17, making it the longest event in history. Phil Mickelson didn't mind, winning $450,000 plus a $100,000 bonus from Bank of America for earning the most money on the West Coast Swing.
Numbers-wise, John Huston produced the best performance, shooting a record 28-under-par score of 260 to win the Hawaiian Open, eclipsing the tour's 72-hole scoring mark previously shared by Ben Hogan and Mike Souchak. Huston recorded 31 birdies.
Then there was Chip Beck. After missing 46 consecutive cuts, he scored a breakthrough at the Greater Milwaukee Open, starting 69-68. But Beck made only one other cut and wound up 272nd on the money list with $10,866.