Why this major champ quit playing with Tiger Woods right before the ’97 Masters

You ever have that golf buddy who just always seems to be on that game?

For 1998 Masters winner Mark O’Meara, that buddy was Tiger Woods. And it got so bad for O’Meara that he quit playing against Woods the week before the 1997 Masters.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar, O’Meara told co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz about the round which took place on the heels of one of Woods most legendary rounds… that no one saw.

“I had played with him that week before [the Masters, as a lot of people may know or heard, he shot 59 at Isleworth,” O’Meara recalled. “13 under par, which was like the easiest— he should have shot probably 57, but he shot 59.”

O’Meara said he lost $500 to Woods that day and he isn’t even that much of a gambler. Nevertheless, O’Meara played with Woods again the next day.

“The next day we go out there at Isleworth, this is literally Thursday, Friday before the ’97 Masters,” O’Meara said. “And Tiger goes out there and makes a birdie on 10, a one down, and he makes a hole-in-one on 11.”

O’Meara had enough by then.

“And I quit. I mean, I gave him $100 or $200 in his cart, and I said, ‘I’m done playing golf with you. I’m not playing with you anymore,’” he said.

“And he’s like, ‘You can’t quit.’

“I’m like, ‘Yes, I can. And I’ll see you on the range.”

“And he’s like, ‘I can’t believe you’re quitting.’

“I’m like, ‘Listen, I mean, we’ve just played 20 holes of golf together the last day and a half, and you’re 16 under par. I’m not playing golf with you anymore.”

Woods would win the Masters the following week by 12 shots, the first of 15 major titles in his career.

The next year, O’Meara won both the Masters and the Open Championship, the only two majors of his career and his final two PGA Tour wins.

For more from O’Meara, including whether he thinks Woods underachieved during his career, listen to the full interview on GOLF’s Subpar here or watch it below.