The personable, two-time major winner talks to John O'Sullivan about Tiger, the Ryder Cup and the real passion of his life, fly fishing
Big brother, father figure, confidant; he's been tagged with all three as a way of explaining a friendship that began with an innocuous phone call but is now celebrated as one of the tightest in professional golf. IMG agent Hughes Norton was the conduit who pitched Tiger Woods into Mark O'Meara's life.
It is an introduction that has proved lucrative for all three, on and off the course. Perched on the edge of a sofa in the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort clubhouse, O'Meara looks remarkably dapper for a man who enjoyed about four hours sleep on the Monday overnight flight to Ireland, and who, on his arrival in Adare on Tuesday lunch-time - he was transported from Dublin via helicopter - immediately set off on with a bunch of buddies to pursue his passion, fly fishing.
Ostensibly he's on a dual mission, with the other objective to launch the JP McManus Pro-Am that takes place at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort on July 4th-5th.
But O'Meara travels knowing that his close friend Woods will always muscle into any conversation.
It's not as if the 48-year-old needs to walk in the shadows. After all, he is not exactly a non-entity in professional golf or even Joe Average. He has won two Majors, the US Masters (1998) and the British Open (1998), the World Matchplay (1998), 16 US Tour events, sundry others worldwide, including the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, and played in five Ryder Cups. It could grate, but it doesn't: O'Meara good-naturedly feeds the Tiger frenzy.
"I get this phone call from my agent, Hughes Norton, who asked me had I heard about this kid, Tiger Woods, who's 13. Hughes told me that he lives up in Cypress and asked me whether I'd like to go and play golf with him.
"'Hughes,' I said. 'I'm living in San Diego; he's living in Cypress, which is an hour and 45 minutes away. I am not going to drive there to play golf with a 13-year-old kid. If he comes down this way and wants to play golf and I feel like playing, I'd be happy to play with him.' It never really panned out.
"When I moved to Florida in 1989 - Tiger was 17 - he was coming through playing in some junior tournament. It just happened that we ended up playing together at Isleworth (the Florida enclave of the elite in the professional game). He shot 71 and I had one of those days when I made everything I looked at, shot a 64.
"He said: 'My God you putt good.' I said: 'Listen, you're a kid. If I'm not putting good there are 60 other guys on the PGA Tour that'll putt like this.'
"Tiger and I struck up a friendship. I saw him at a couple of pro tournaments, because he got invites after winning his batch of US Amateur Championships, and we kept in touch.
"The problem Tiger had when he burst on the scene at 20 or 21 years of age was that there was no one else his age to hang out with on the Tour. Hughes probably felt that I would look after him like a big brother. I didn't know what I was getting into, to be honest.
"But when I started hanging out with him, taking him fishing and generally doing stuff on and off the course, we struck up a nice bond. It's been beneficial to both of us. I don't know if I would have won the two Majors - British Open and US Masters - in 1998 if I hadn't had his backing and his pushing me constantly, telling me that this and that is what I need to do.
"In Tiger's first year on the Tour he said to me. 'Mark, I hope I can play with you in the Ryder Cup, I hope I can go head-to-head with you in a tournament.' A lot of these things that he said came true (O'Meara beat Woods in the 1998 World Matchplay final). Our bond as friends has been beneficial on both sides."
The pair remain close, although the younger man is choosing more racy off-course pursuits, like free diving and spear fishing, now that he's got his own boat.
O'Meara was chief advocate for the defence of Woods to the press when the latter was alleged to be in the throes of a slump, and he also introduced the world number one to O'Meara's coach, Hank Haney. It's been a productive union, reflected in a fourth Masters green jacket and the reclaiming of the world number one mantle.
"I said to the media after playing with Tiger on the Saturday in the final group at the Byron Nelson (Classic) last year, 'You guys keep writing that he is in a slump. When he doesn't win I am shocked too. But the bottom line is that although he's not hitting the ball that well, he's still finishing in the top five and isn't missing cuts'."
O'Meara cites an example of the quality that sets Woods apart from his rivals.
"The one thing that you can't teach anyone is the mind aspect of playing professional golf, the will to want to win and overcome the fears, the uncertainty, when you're out there playing.
"I played with him in that Tavistock Cup at Isleworth recently (Woods and O'Meara took on Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia), and I wasn't playing well. I could tell how uncomfortable he (Tiger) was over the ball. But this guy bogeyed two of the par fives on the front nine and was still one under at the turn, and then shot 31 on the back side.
"He finds a way, he just wants to win so badly. No disrespect to Phil (Mickelson) or Vijay (Singh) or Ernie (Els) - all great champions - Tiger's got himself in a different class to anyone else."
Next year at the K Club Tom Lehman will lead the American team hoping to regain the Ryder Cup that the Europeans won at the Belfry and retained at Oakland Hills. It is a role O'Meara, whose great-grandparents (O'Meara-O'Leary) hailed from Tipperary, hoped to fill, but in many respects it mightn't have been a true run race.
O'Meara was handicapped by the "Pay for Play" controversy in which he found himself at the centre before the Ryder Cup at Brookline. "I played in five Ryder Cup teams, two winning, two losing and one tied. The two winning occasions were Kiawah and Boston (Brookline), and there was this negative flare over them. There was the Pay for Play controversy and the notion that I was spearheading that campaign.
"I was the oldest and most experienced and took the hit. The Pay for Play was never exactly that. There was never one player who said that they weren't going to play unless they were paid. The media tends to sensationalise things, looking for the edge in pursuit of a story, and by and large that's fine.
"My views were that the Ryder Cup had become a big deal. There was a tremendous amount of money being generated but no one was prepared to say where it was going. I knew the young players were wondering, 'What's going on, where's the money going'. My feeling was (that) as an older player I had to speak up.
"When I got on Ryder Cup teams I earned the right to go and represent my country and do the best I can. If I act in an appropriate manner and lose, I don't think I should come home and take this major hit.
"What was happening in Ryder Cup was that if you won, you weren't a hero, it was something you should (accomplish), while if you lose you're a villain.
"Tom Kite gives up two years of his life and was not paid a thing. He gave up two years of his life to be heavily criticised. You don't need to disparage the losers. When I lose I'm not a happy camper. I don't need to be told how unhappy I should be.
"I never told Tiger what to say or Phil (Mickelson).
"I felt I got the raw end of the deal. My family and friends felt that I did deserve it and in their mind I needed to set the record straight. A lot of things have arisen from that (the Pay for Play kerfuffle) with players able to give money to charities and the PGA of America giving money to players' colleges. Everyone has come out win-win on the whole issue. I don't hold any grudges."
In telling this story, O'Meara is offering a backdrop to his decision to canvass for the Ryder Cup captaincy at the K Club, an undertaking he began about four years ago.
"I have a great passion for Ireland, love coming here, love the Irish people who have been so hospitable to me, love the courses.
"When I knew it was going to the K Club that triggered my desire to try and get the captaincy for the American team. I would say that I tried actively to go the extra mile out of my way to let the powers-that-be know that I would be very interested. If they gave me the opportunity I would welcome it very much."
Despite a groundswell of media support and that of many players and officials, including, of course, Woods, who was vociferous on the matter in supporting his friend, O'Meara missed out, with the position going to Lehman.
The least he deserved was a phone call before the official announcement.
But he wasn't even afforded that basic courtesy.
"No, there was no phone call; no nothing. I've got to be honest, I wasn't devastated, but I was a little shocked and disappointed. I was more disappointed than anything else. I know Tom Lehman is a great competitor and they (the PGA of America) think he's more qualified than I am.
"He won the Open championship. I won the Open championship. I won the Masters, played on five Ryder Cup teams, won 16 US PGA tournaments. He didn't have that many. I have won internationally a lot more than Tom has. Who knows what their reasoning is or was? I did go to them and say that I hoped what transpired in the past wasn't going to be held against me. They said, 'Oh no, we would never (do that)'. Who knows? It's disappointing. I think it would have been an honour.
"I believe when you have as strong a bond as I have with Tiger . . . it wouldn't have been my team, it would have been Tiger Woods' team. He is golf. I think Tom will probably do this with Tiger. Certainly Tom and Tiger's relationship is not like my relationship with Tiger. He (Tiger) campaigned a little on my behalf and he made it well known that he would support my candidature.
"The bottom line is that everything happens for a reason. It's not the end of the world. Bringing the Ryder Cup to Ireland and what Michael Smurfit has done is great. It deserves to be in Ireland. It would be great to see the Ryder Cup played on a links course eventually. I understand everything is caught up with money, and I'm down with that. I think it would be nice to bring it to a nice links course in Ireland, Scotland or England."
O'Meara's affinity for Ireland extends to our golfers, and while he acknowledges the ability of Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley, he singles out Padraig Harrington for special praise.
"Padraig is a guy who is going to win a major championship because he has got the tools to win a major. He has got the mental toughness, he's a gritty player. To win a major you have to have a great short game and to putt well. You have to make putts. Padraig can do that.
"The win for Padraig at the Honda Classic is a big leap forward. Most players that have done well in Europe and gone to America to win a major have first won a US PGA Tour tournament. It's not like the major is the only one they've won."
But it is another friendship that has facilitated his week-long fly fishing sojourn in Ireland. O'Meara has known McManus for a dozen years and in July will play in the pro-am that bears the Limerick man's name. O'Meara smiles: "There's no doubt but he's a very nice host. I have met so many neat people, but I have never met anyone like this guy.
"What do I mean by that? When I see what he's like with all people. The way that I view JP McManus is that he's taught me so much on how to be a good person. He gets so much enjoyment out of making someone else's day special. To me that's a great quality. I'm proud to have him as a friend.
"The sign of the kind of person he is, is the fact that these players (45 top professionals) are willing to come and spend two days for a great cause. There's no other pro-am like it anywhere in the world."
McManus has twice staged these charity tournaments (1995 and 2000, when Woods was the winner, and he'll return to defend his title) and raised an astonishing amount of money for charity.
As O'Meara nears the lucrative cash cow that is the US Champions Tour, he's toying with winding down the intensity levels, spending more time with his wife, Alicia, daughter Michelle (18) and three-handicap son Shaun.
"I try to base my golf schedule around the fly fishing season. When the fishing is good that's where you'll find me, and when it's not so good then I'll play more tournaments."
Personable and self-deprecating, O'Meara's not quite ready for the "golf-lite" of the seniors tour, but the day when the "gone fishing" sign is hanging from his door isn't far off.
When it's time to rein in those golfing demands there's no one better placed to be able to distinguish the wood from the trees.
