O'Meara held a three-stroke lead on the back nine, but Allen charged up the leaderboard and even had chances to win outright with birdie opportunities at 15 and 18. He missed both, and he and O'Meara finished at -7 to head to the fateful playoff.
Still, O'Meara's win was tinged with some bitterness. He's still not a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, and he didn't try to hide his frustration at falling short again this year.
"Another disappointment," he said. "You know, I know Hall of Fame alwayscomes up. I'll be honest, I'm disappointed I didn't get in this year.I'm 53. I'll be 54 next year. Borderline, I think there's guys that hadmaybe semi-careers, they're all in. I'm thinking, 'When am I going to get the call?' That would be agreat honor for me. Especially for what I accomplished on the regular Tour, my worldwide wins. I was disappointed. That kind of hurt a littlebit ... You've just got to wonder if it's a popularity contest or what. Ithink my record hopefully is good enough by what I've accomplished."
O'Meara has 16 wins on the PGA Tour, including the Masters and the British won within a few weeks of each other in 1998. He's also posted wins on the European, Japan and now Champions tours. Is that good enough to get him in? In the most recent election, O'Meara received 29 percent of the vote, trailing, among others, Fred Couples at 32 percent.
It's a classic case of doing a lot of things reasonably well for a long period of time, with only a brief burst of excellence. Is that enough to get O'Meara in? There's ample evidence to say he should be in there, but Dale Murphy would tell him not to hold his breath.
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