One can’t deny the fact that Tiger Woods has changed not just the realm of the sport of golf, but has also been an inspiration to several golfers. Now, he is left battered and bruised, as blow after blow takes its toll on his physical well-being. He recently underwent surgery for his prolonged back pain throughout the season and is recovering from it. One person who Mr. T had a significant impact on was Mark O’Maera, a close friend of Tiger Woods.

Woods moved next to him in Orlando and O’Maera treated him like a little brother. “So that’s how I would correlate my relationship and what Tiger meant to me and the reason why I felt like I wouldn’t have won those two majors possibly at 41 if he hadn’t come into my life,” he said. They pretty much practiced all the golfing swings ahead of the tournaments together.

The 41-year-old World Golf Hall of Famers recently announced his retirement. As he spoke to Golf Today about it, he gave a little Tiger Woods anecdote in the interview. At the 1998 World Match Play Championship, Mark O’Maera bagged the win by defeating Tiger Woods with one stroke in the 36-hole final. However, before that, the two practiced together on the same course. After the first two rounds, the neighbors went head-to-head, since O’Maera had just beaten Vijay Singh.

Later, they sat down for dinner, and the next day as they reached the course, Tiger Woods made Mark O’Maera putt the 11th hole, after him. Almost 7000 people were watching them and the 16X Major Champion was already embarrassed. However, he made the hole, but with a mean look on his face told Woods, “If you ever make me putt a putt like that, our friendship is over.” But turns out, the pressure did come in handy after all.

World Golf Hall of Famer Mark O’Meara is retiring from professional golf.

The 16-time PGA TOUR winner shares stories from his career… including one memorable moment between he and Tiger Woods in the 1998 World Match Play Championship. @damonhackGC @eamonlynch pic.twitter.com/zYABfHR5Oz

— Golf Today (@GCGolfToday) September 16, 2024

Well, it was both ways. Even Tiger Woods was influenced by Mark O’Maera and his discipline. However, the duo have had some weird moments on the course in their run.

Mark O’Maera shares Masters memory with Tiger Woods

The Masters has the tradition of the former winner handing over the green jacket to the current winner. As Mark O’Maera won the championship in 1998, he would receive the jacket from Tiger Woods, who had won it in the previous year. So, they were excited, but O’Maera felt weird because he won at the age of 41, and Woods was a lot younger to him, and also taller.

So, when Woods came up to put on the jacket for O’Maera, his left arm got stuck. “And it was kind of an awkward situation, and finally, I turned around and looked at Tiger, and I’m like, ‘Hey, you gotta lower the jacket.’ And so he did, and I got my arms in there and he hugged me,” said O’Maera. Later on, when he asked Woods what the matter was, the 48-year-old replied, “How would I know how to put a sport coat on anybody? I’ve never put a jacket on anybody!” This later on turned out to be a rather funny incident for the two.