Monday, December
2, 2002
O'Meara
goes the short way to bank at Skins Game
By John Reger
The Orange County Register (KRT)
INDIO, Calif. - For
all the talk of aggressiveness winning the Skins Game, it was
a balding middle-aged man who plodded along Landmark Golf Club
that went home with the most money.
Mark O'Meara, several
yards shorter off the tee and more than 10 years older than two
of his competitors, beat Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Phil Mickelson
on Sunday in the Skins Game, winning five of the possible nine
skins. The 44-year-old won eight skins and $405,000 of the $1
million purse. It is the second time O'Meara has won the event.
In 1998, O'Meara won eight skins and $430,000.
"It's been a
while since I've won anything," said O'Meara, whose last
victory was the 1998 Skins Game. "It's always nice to come
out here."
Woods' struggles
at the Skins Game continued, though this year was the best of
his four appearances. Woods finished fourth but won four skins
and $125,000. In three previous appearances, Woods has won five
total skins and $100,000.
"I played pretty
good," Woods said. "I just didn't make a whole lot of
putts. It was frustrating because I was in position in most of
the holes."
One hole Woods was
taken out of was 18, but it wasn't because of the other players.
Woods was hitting
out of a greenside sand trap and a fan clicked a camera during
his shot. Woods was visibly upset. The ball rolled 8 feet past
the hole, and Woods missed the putt that would have forced a playoff.
"Not in my swing,"
Woods said, adding an expletive.
Woods was a bit cooler
after the contest.
"Can you believe
that?" Woods said. "If that had been a regular event
I would have really been hot."
Apparently Steve
Williams, Woods' caddie, was just as upset. He took the camera
away from the fan and threw it into the lake that fronts the left
side of the 18th hole.
The fan missed getting
a shot of Mickelson winning his only skin of the day. Mickelson
2-putted from 30 feet for a birdie on the par-5, 563-yard finishing
hole for the $200,000 Super Skin.
"When we were
walking to the 18th I said to Tiger, `Wouldn't it be nice if we
all won a skin like (Saturday),'" Mickelson said. "He
was nice enough to let me have one by missing his putt. I'll be
sending him a holiday card and present this Christmas."
Mickelson finished
second in his Skins Game debut.
"I felt up to
the last hole I was in every hole," Couples said. "I
was frustrated to miss some putts for a couple of skins."
Couples' most interesting
shot was his drive on 16 that nearly hit a rabbit scurrying across
the fairway.
"I was shocked
twice," Couples said. "One that my tee shot was down
the middle of the fairway and second that I came close to hitting
such a small target."
O'Meara was drilling
small targets for most of the day. His winning putts on 12 and
15 were 4 inches and 3 feet. O'Meara proved he could make something
longer than a gimme, draining a 14-footer on 17.
"I hit some
good drives out there," O'Meara said. "I had some good
shots into the greens. They weren't kick ins. Those putts are
nerve wracking."
It didn't appear
there was a whole lot of tension among the foursome. The group
spent most of the day jabbering back and forth at each other and
it continued afterward.
When told two players
had been declared co-champions of the Australian PGA Championship
because of darkness, three of the four players jokingly thought
that was a good idea.
"You up for
sharing your title?" Mickelson asked O'Meara. "I like
that idea."
"I'm not sharing
anything," O'Meara said.
___
©
2002, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).
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