Thursday
Oct112012
Mark O'Meara: What About Me?!
“I feel a little disappointed, yeah. Kind of hoped that I’d get the job in Ireland,” O’Meara said, referring to the 2006 Ryder Cup held at the K Club in Kildare, Ireland. Tom Lehman led the U.S. squad to an 18 ½ to 9 ½ defeat.
“I certainly wouldn’t have been disappointed if I had gotten passed over for Larry Nelson,” added O’Meara, who played on five U.S. Ryder Cup teams, going 4-9-1.
Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 11:39 PM
Reader Comments (54)
If he'd got that Ireland job it probably would have been 23-5 Europe.
If he'd got that Ireland job it probably would have been 23-5 Europe.
aused the PGA a lot of angst. not quickly forgotten. he was far from a certainty anyway despite friendship with TW. his eventual election to Hall of Fame seems muh more likely with 2 majors and a decent total of tour wins.
Again...why anyone would lobby for a position that puts them into a situation where they can do no wrong yet get crucified in the media is crazier than a you know what rat.
There was no excuse for picking Lehman over anyone. Nice guy, though.
I wish the PGA would do it like the olympics. Announce the next captain (and maybe have him escorted to the stage by a stupid-looking and slighty scary to children oversized mascot) at the closing ceremony.
Larry Nelson deserved it---thats past tense gents. he certainly isnt the right pick NOW. even he would tell you that. for chrissakes, he'd problbly order those big "jiffy pop" ball caps, instead of the painter's hats so popular now.
I believe Tiger followed a similar plan after Fluff blabbed out his "old school" deal to a reporter...Stevie I believe was put on a (very!!) good salary w/ performance bonuses...which might be more popular among the younger PGAT pros these days.
Personally, I like the classic % pay structure the best. Latching on to a good bag and riding that horse for all he/she is worth is, and should always be, part of the caddy culture. If a player gets upset he's paying too much %...then he should have negotiated a better deal the first time around. Sounds like O'Meara can be a sore loser IMO.
Press Agent, you and I were in complete agreement on something the other day, can't remember what it was....but the natural order of things has been restored!
Mark O'Meara won his first event in 1984, The Greater Milwaukee Open -- first prize $54,000, total purse $300,000. O'Meara won his last event in 1998, The Open Championship -- first prize $493,500, total purse $2,750,000. Mark O'Meara won 14 other events between those two wins, and won in 10 different years. His wins also included a Masters, 5 Crosby National Pro-Am's, 2 in Hawaii, the Canadian Open, Greensboro, and Disney, among others -- the guy won everywhere!
In 1999 purse escalation started, Open Championship went over $3,000,000 in 1999, over $4,000,000 in 2000. $4.7 million in 2001. $5.3 million in 2002. This was all due to Tiger's emergence.
O'Meara's caddie, Jerry Higginbotham, was fired in April of 1999. He and Higginbotham had been together for about 5 years and 4 or 5 wins. This was about 9 months after O'Meara's last win. Mark never had another win after sending Jerry packing.
So, back to your statement, "he started winning and making some money" -- ALL his wins and serious money were made PRIOR to firing Higgy.
And, "he couldn't stand paying his caddy his proper share under their contract" -- Higgy did not have a "contract". Like all caddie/player deals, they had a verbal agreement and Higgy got paid 100% of what was agreed to, every time.
(if there are any caddies on tour with an official written "contract" I'd be surprised...and if there are, they number less than 5, Higgy certainly wasn't one of them)
JFTR, just a month prior (March 1999) Ernie ELs fired Ricci Roberts who was on his bag for both US Open wins and is arguably a better guy and a better caddie...these things happen.
O'Meara did once say something like "I really don't envision paying a caddie 10% for a win again" but my recollection was this coincided with winners shares cresting above $1,000,000 (so the caddie check would be $100k+) and this did not happen at The Open Championship until 2002. I am unable to locate the exact quote but do believe the comment was made long after Higginbotham was let go, but I can't prove this. Mark never had to face the issue because he never had another regular tour win. And if you've ever seen Mark's house or car collection you know the dude is not hung up on hanging onto every dollar he ever made, he will spend some cash.
I guess there's things to pick on Mark O'Meara about but firing Jerry Higginbotham doesn't seem to be one of them. In case you've forgotten Sergio picked Higgy up almost immediately after Mark fired him and Higgy didn't even make it through the end of the year -- and in the interim made international headlines for getting his ass kicked in a drunken bar fight after the Ryder Cup in Boston.
If I learned anything from all this, it's that with 16 wins and 2 majors it sure appears that O'Meara is now a LOCK for the Hall of Fame!!
I NEVER understood why Tom Lehman was selected for RC captaincy, nor do I understand why he is held in such high (relatively speaking) regard in general. The list of one major winners, with a few PGA wins (or EPGA) is not short. Lehman is a one trick pony who has been able to use a hook, remarkably....but RC captain?...even talk of HOF !?! please... I know the HOF is a joke but you have to be kidding.
Larry Nelson deserves the captaincy, and after hearing him on Morning Drivel, he is certainly still ''in touch''.
"All due to Tiger's emergence"
B*llshit!
Football, hockey, baseball, basketball, European soccer all saw total compensation for athletes rise faster than golf over the Tiger era.
For the statistically challenged, golf's 8.5% growth rate is the slowest of the bunch. At the top end, hockey salaries grew at over 15% per annum. At the bottom, NFL salaries grew at about 9%.
The common denominator is that corporate sponsorship budgets and greater media coverage exploded - across all major sports.
Tiger helped, but it was not "all due" to him.
Don't let your love for your idol get in the way of reality Del.
Ok, I stand corrected on my very very loose description of the events, however, I do think the quote was a direct quote, which is enough for me. If it wasn't, I stand corrected again.
In any event, I don't think he'd make a good RC captain. They brought "Stricks" along this year to try and make Tiger comfortable - it failed.
Now they should choose a certain captain for Tiger?? no thanks.
He deserves it for reasons long discussed, and I don't feel like I need to rehash all that yet again and I won't waste our time doing that.
The ''in touch'' comment was my own observation of his conversation on one show, and where you heard him say that he was not in touch would be of interest to this conversation.... So where did he say that? Maybe I am out ''of touch'' in his status.
jones...who cares when the last time Larry made a cut was? How is that relevant? I think some older captains with some grey hair who still retain possession of their balls is just what our Ryder Cup team needs. Our last 2 captains were nice guy thumpers resigned to having their wives keep their balls in a box up on the mantle or some such place -- enough of that! I'd start with Jackie Burke Jr., and then give Larry his turn at the wheel. Using this strategy Freddie and Mark would get their turns in about a decade!
Dig South Mark it neara, remember? He put the ball about half an inch in front of the mark at a European event on a 18 incher and it WAS noticeable. He actually admitted it after seeing it on tv. They let him keep the trophy but many players were hot about it. If he did it once, he probably did it before.
Del & Others O'Meara has a rep with insiders as being quite the phony. I know your response already Del but you don't know everything and while it is hard to believe you are not the only one with Tour information. Many of us have brothers or friends or ex-teammates on the Tour so we get info also. The guy comes across as the nicest guy on Tour but loves to run his mouth about everyone. He also thinks he knows everything. Pretty sure he won't be captaining a RC team anytime soon. And the comment he made about paying the caddie is a prime example of what a class act he really is.
As for whether Mark would make a good captain or not, hard to say. But the list 2 time major champs with 14 other tour wins, that have gotten no consideration whatsoever for RC captaincy, is extremely short. O'Meara also won the previously mentioned Lancome Trophy, twice in Japan, the Australian Masters, The World Cup, The World Match Play, Dubai, and a bunch of other international events. I mean this type of resume is tailor made for Ryder Cup Captain.
In the U.S., Mark won 16 times in a 14 year time span, with wins in 10 distinct years
Corey won 1 major and 14 other events. Twice in Japan, twice in New Zealand, the World Match Play....it's scary how similar their records are, the main difference being Mark validated that 1st major with a 2nd one. In the U.S., Corey won 15 times over a 22 year time span! Including wins in 11 different years. WOW!
Tom Lehman, 1 major, and only 4 other PGA Tour wins. 5 wins in a 7 year time span, only won in 4 distinct years. How the hell did this guy even get a glance, much less the ultimate nod?!?!?!
What about the basic premise of paying the players? What are the PGA's revenues and expenses for the Ryder Cup? Where does the profit go? Why shouldn't the players receive an appearance fee? What would be wrong with $500K for winners and $250K for losers? Or $0 for losers?
The US Open has roughly the same financial model (albeit annually) - sell out the tickets, a ton of merchandise, big TV deal, etc. But all that USGA revenue funds a large purse, a number of other subsidized championships for men and women, and an occasional upgrade to a public course (think Bethpage, Torrey). What does the PGA fund with the Ryder Cup profits (and the PGA Championship for that matter) other than some blazers with enormous logo patches?
I don't know any of these answers but would certainly like to do some evaluation before choosing sides on the Mark vs PGA debate.
Out of curiosity I did a quick google seach. Appears that O'Meara was first mover on the topic of paying players but it didn't get traction until Duval and Tiger picked up the ball and ran with it in 1999. A nice article here: texnews (dot) com/tiger/ryder0810 (dot) html
Hawk, if the consensus is he did it, I can accept that. Do we think he did it knowingly and to gain an advantage? Monty got accused of a similar thing didn't he? Dtto, knowingly?
Clearly the players should be ashamed for wanting some (small) share of the profits the PGA of America receives off of their efforts at the Ryder Cup.
Ashamed?
A non-profit (PGA of America) uses independent contractors to enrich itself and in return pats these guys (Tiger & Co) on the back and says thanks for being patriotic! What a sham. OH, and on your death bed you'll receive total conscienceness, so they got that going for them....
However, if the PGA of America donated all the proceeds (after expenses) to organisations it isn't affiliated with well then that'd be a real act of patriotism.....
....my money is on them using it for highly inflated salaries and year end bonuses....the new American Dream...don't earn it...steal it...nobody's being prosecuted anymore according to Gordon Gekko.
to complete their required education???
My God, that's funnier than Lehman being captain before Nelson
...but your shot of the month was the Alec Baldwin car idling snark - L'dMFAO!