SOUTHPORT, England — Mark O’Meara, the 1998 British Open winner at Royal Birkdale, struck the first shot of the tournament. And then he proceeded to take 80 more shots from there, finishing with an 11-over-par 81.
His nightmarish day began with a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole, where he blocked his tee shot out of bounds in the driving rain and howling winds.
“My day was toast and most people still hadn’t had their breakfast,” O’Meara said. “I wouldn’t say I was overly nervous. I thought I’d be more nervous. But I was not pleased when I hit that shot. I don’t think anybody would be.
“My name is on my golf bag, I’ve won the Open, I’ve won the Masters, I’m in the Hall of Fame and then you hit one straight right off the first tee out of bounds. I just got off to such a poor start. When you’re 9-over par through eight holes or whatever I was, you know, it’s very disappointing, to be honest with you.
“But it’s not the end of the world. I realize kind of where I’m at in my life. But, you still play for your pride. When I play like that, I don’t care who plays like that, they’re disappointed.’’
For the 60-year-old O’Meara, this is his final Open because the exemption from his ’98 win runs out. His only chance of returning next year is a top-10 finish this week.
“I don’t think that’s likely to happen,’’ O’Meara said.