The 1998 Masters champion, now 58, Mark O’Meara hasn’t made the cut at Augusta National Golf Club since 2005, but he likely will be the lone Champions Tour player to advance to the weekend with a solid round of 68 on Friday morning that left even playing partner Shane Lowry amazed.
“He played fantastic for two days. You know, he’s definitely still able to play. He putted lovely. He just doesn’t do anything wrong. He’s a true professional,” Lowry said.
Q: What are your emotions about making the cut?
O'Meara: I've been hitting the ball pretty well almost all year. I played the practice rounds Monday and Tuesday with Tiger (Woods). Even he commented, like, "wow, you're like driving it, man, you're a better driver of the ball than I've ever seen." Fortunately I had hit the ball well the first two days.
Q: What are your parallels to Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth at age 21?
O'Meara: Jordan gained a lot of experience last year certainly contending here and a lot of other tournaments. And he's got off to a fabulous start this year with a win and coming into this red hot, so it doesn't surprise me. But 14 under is very, very, very impressive around this golf course. But I also know that Tiger is playing pretty well today. … He seems like in a really good place mentally and physically. Listen, I see more of the old Tiger Woods in my opinion. His pitching Monday and Tuesday, I didn't see any indication of a guy that's struggling around the greens. What was going on before, I'm not sure. But he certainly looks like he's on his way back.
Q: What has Ben Crenshaw meant to the Masters?
O'Meara: Ben's meant a lot to every player, to certainly Augusta National. He hosts our (Champions) dinner now; he took over the baton from Byron Nelson. And Ben is a class act. So he's going to leave here gracefully, but he'll always be here in heart, and he'll always be coming back to the Masters.
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