O’Meara Hurting Himself, Not His Wallet

Vince Lombardi used to say, “You have to play with the hurts.”

Escondido’s Mark O’Meara is a golfer, not a football player, but his performance on the PGA Tour this year has epitomized one of Lombardi’s pet phrases from the glory days of the Green Bay Packers.

When O’Meara came home for the season-opening Tournament of Champions at La Costa, he had trouble with his back. Soreness and all, he finished third.

When he went to Pebble Beach two weeks ago for the AT&T; National Pro-Am, he had a bad cold. No matter. He scored his fifth victory in 10 seasons on the tour and pocketed $180,000.

He came home first for a week’s rest and then the Shearson Lehman Hutton Open at Torrey Pines this weekend but had to withdraw from Wednesday’s pro-am because of a stiff neck. He still wasn’t feeling up to par Thursday but played so well through the pain that he shot a 66, just one stroke off the pace set by Rick Fehr and Bob Eastwood.

“Maybe that’s the way to play this game,” O’Meara said. “I especially like to play well here, with so many of my friends watching.”

A victory before the home folks--he tied for second here last year--would send O’Meara to the top of the money list for the young season. He ranks second now with earnings of $239,575 and has moved up to 18th on the all-time list with $2,858,006. Paul Azinger, who won the Tournament of Champions but skipped this tour stop, is the season leader with $290,386.

Even a second- or third-place finish here could give O’Meara the lead, depending on what Robert Gamez and Tommy Armour III do. Gamez, who ranks fourth with $189,050, shot a 73 in the first round. Armour, who ranks sixth with $164,569, is among four men tied with O’Meara for third at 66.

O’Meara shot his hot round--32-34--on the North Course, the easier of the two. So did all of the others in the top seven. The split field plays once each on the South and North courses the first two days, then plays the final two exclusively on the South.

“I’m glad I played that course first,” O’Meara said. “I always feel more confident playing the South course because I know it a little bit better. Sometimes a guy will get a good score there (the South Course) and think he’s going to eat the North Course alive, but it doesn’t happen.”

Actually, both courses at Torrey Pines are old hat to O’Meara.

“I first played here when I was 15, and I’m 33 now,” he said. “I know the greens, and I know how to read them, so I guess I have a bit of an advantage.”

Of his neck ailment, O’Meara said, “I was sleeping soundly at about 3 o’clock Wednesday morning when I turned my head and felt something snap. I got up and took some aspirin, but when I came here for the pro-am, it was so cold and windy that I went to the fitness van. Sometimes you can play under conditions like that and hurt yourself more.

“My neck feels a little bit better today, but it’s tough to get old. After 10 years on the tour, it’s starting to take its toll.”

Despite breaking par by six strokes, O’Meara didn’t consider himself at the top of his game.

“I was pleased with my score, but not pleased with some of my shots,” he said. “I missed the fairways on--let’s see--three, four, five, seven, 10, 15 and 16. I was either pulling to the left or right. Fortunately, I birdied all four par fives.”

O’Meara also putted well most of the day. He had eight birdies, eight pars and two bogeys.

Although next week’s tournament will be nearby--the Nissan Los Angeles Open--O’Meara will pass it up and take his wife and two children to Orlando to move into their second home. The tournament after that will be the Doral Ryder Open in Miami.

“It (Florida) is much easier to get in and out of on the tour,” he said. “And the state income tax is one of the other reasons. They don’t have a state tax in Florida, and that will be our primary residence.

“We’ll still be living here in the wintertime. The weather is much better here. But why live here just a couple of months (as his primary residence) and get hammered at tax time?”