PGA Tour veteran Mark O'Meara returns to area for LCCC golf benefit

ELYRIA — The Lorain County Community College Jack Nicklaus Scholarship Golf Benefit has brought some of the best golfers in the world to Elyria Country Club over the last 35 years. The tradition continued Monday as 1998 Masters champion and 16-time PGA Tour winner Mark O'Meara came to town to meet and mingle with over 120 golfers who took part in the annual event, which raises money for the LCCC Foundation scholarship fund. O'Meara's ties to Ohio date back to 1979 when when he won the U.S. Amateur Championship at Canterbury Country Club in Shaker Heights. He also briefly lived in Marietta as a child before his family settled in Southern California. "Peter Malik is a dear friend of mine, he lives in Chagrin Falls," O'Meara said. "And he called me earlier this year or maybe towards the end of last year and asked me if I'd come back. Knowing that Mr. Nicklaus has had a big imprint with what's going on at Lorain County Community College, when they asked me to be here I said sure." O'Meara, who retired from competitive golf in 2024, said he participates in around 50 events across the country each year for various charities and sponsors. The 68-year-old O'Meara has also found time to enjoy other hobbies away from golf. "It's been a blessing to play professional golf for that long a period of time," O'Meara said. "But I have a lot of hobbies that I like to do. I love fishing, I'm a big fly fisherman." He also owns seven snowmobiles he likes to ride in the winter months. O'Meara took photos with each of the foursomes at the event and put on an exhibition to begin the day. He also took the time to reminisce about the biggest win of his career when, at the age of 41, he won his first major at Augusta National, sinking a 20-foot putt on the final hole to defeat David Duval and Fred Couples by one stroke. "I distinctly remember walking up to the 18th green, David Duval has posted a -8, Fred Couples was -8 and he was in the right bunker and I hit it to 18 feet pin high," O'Meara said. "I never once thought to myself, 'Mark, if you make this putt you win the green jacket and you win the Masters." I said to myself, 'Fred is going to hole his bunker shot and I'm going to have to make this putt to tie Fred Couples.' "When I hit my putt the ball was about 2 feet off the putter, (Ken) Venturi and (Jim) Nantz are up in the booth, people are standing up on the other side of the green and everyone is watching it. It's like maybe a foot and a half from the hole and I'm thinking 'Oh, my God. It's going to go in. When It started breaking to the left my final thought was please don't lip out. When it caught the left center of the hole and dove into the cup my arms went up in the air and I was like what the hell just happened and I realized I won the Masters." O'Meara is the third Masters champion to appear at the LCCC benefit, joining Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson, who was at the 1995 event. "It's a great day of golf, but it's really about supporting student scholarships and that's what has kept it going all of these years," said Tracy Green, the vice president of the LCCC Foundation. "Thirty-five years for this golf outing is a pretty tremendous milestone. I don't know many golf outings of this size that keep selling out and has this level of support that keeps pouring in." Green said over 1,600 LCCC students have been awarded scholarships over the years thanks to the event. PGA professional and ESPN Cleveland host Jimmy Hanlin was also on hand, giving his time to the Foundation for the ninth year. "I was their feature pro one year and I just developed a relationship with the board and the group so they ask me to come back every year," Hanlin said. "The people here at Elyria Country Club and (committee co-chair) Don (Knechtges) and his whole crew are great. They just care so much. "It all goes back to Judge's (Judge Joseph Cirigliano) relationship with Jack. As big of a deal as this is and as great of a facility as this is, if you're not putting Jack's name on this thing it's a little harder to get these guys." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.