Fellow Masters champion Mark O’Meara is hopeful his long-time good friend Tiger Woods will tee-up in next week’s Masters.
O’Meara was one of the first Tour players Woods befriended when he turned pro late in 1996.
It was Woods, as defending Masters champion, who in 1998 fitted an Augusta National green jacket to O’Meara.
And while O’Meara may not have seen much of Woods given he is now competing on the Champions Tour the now 58-year old still understands the make-up of the 14-time Major winning Woods.
Mark O’Meara now acting as Ambassador for Bluejack National and hoping his long-time good friend Tiger Woods will contest next weeks Masters. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
“It will be interesting to see if Tiger does play Augusta next week,” said O’Meara speaking at a media viewing of Woods first USA designed golf course at Bluejack National and about an hour’s drive north of Houston, Texas.
“Deep down I think he will play and I hope he plays but I also understand he is doing what he needs to do for him.
“Everybody struggles in the game of golf and no-one is immune to struggling and let’s face it for a long time Tiger didn’t have to struggle and nobody dominated a sport like he did.
“He certainly dominated golf for quite a while but then a couple of years ago when I didn’t think he was swinging the club that well he won five tournaments in a season and was named ‘Player of the Year’.
“So he’s the kind of an athlete and individual that when people start to doubt him, and people second guess him and say he can’t play do something then that is a good motivating factor for him to turn it around.”
O’Meara, who has been living for the past 10 years in Houston, has been signed by the Tiger Woods Design as an ambassador for the Bluejack National course.
Grass has been laid on the front nine of the course and with Woods keeping a close eye on the project so much so he is expected to make some three to four more visits before next year’s officially opening.
O’Meara, who will be celebrating his 30th Masters next week, says Bluejack National in fact has a little bit of an Augusta feel to it with a number of gently rolling fairways and countless tall Georgia-like pine trees.
“I walked this property long before Tiger was signed-up,” he said.
“Since then I’ve spoken to Tiger often about the project but while I haven’t talked to Tiger face-to-face that much in the last five or six years I still do see him once in a while and I know what he’s been going through over the last couple of years with his injuries and his little break from the game,” said O’Meara.
“I was around Tiger for like the first 11 years when he came out on Tour and he had a big impact on my life and in my career.
“I’ve said before and that is I may not have won the two Majors I won in ’98 if Tiger had not come into my life.
“So he’s been a great friend and a great motivating factor in my life, and as a friend I have always tried to be there for him or want to be there for him.
“But then I also believe at 39 years of age no one has probably been through and experienced what Tiger’s experienced.
“Tiger’s still a human being and besides being the phenomenal golfer and the superstar that he’s been in the world and not only in golf but in sport.
“So that takes a toll on a human being and I imagine as strong and as tough as he is that has had an impact on his life and rightfully so.
“But the game needs Tiger Woods and I am still a big fan of his and I love watching him play and I love watching him win and I love competing against him.
“So I hope Tiger does come back and whether he will be as dominant as he once was is going to be hard to say because the younger players have all gotten good and there’s now a lot of great players throughout the world and a lot of that is directly because of Tiger’s influence.”
