Mark O’Meara usually closed the deal when he played on the PGA Tour.

You don’t win 16 times, including the 1998 Masters and British Open, without controlling the demons that usually pay a visit when you make the turn for home. So, it’s something of a surprise that since joining the Champions Tour in 2007, O’Meara has a dozen runner-up finishes, including a playoff loss to Jay Don Blake in Seattle two weeks ago, and two victories.

Not that he’s complaining about finishing second coming into this week’s $1.8 million Pacific Links Hawaii Championship at the Kapolei Golf Course. After missing four months of the season with torn cartilage in his rib cage, O’Meara is pleased with his progress since rejoining his fellow seniors on the Champions Tour in early August.

He has three top-10 finishes in three events, getting better every week, and if he manages his fourth top 10 today, it will be the first time since 2007 that he’s turned that trick.

He got off to a slow start on Friday in the tricky trades, but made up for it Saturday with a sweet 67 that lifted him into a tie for ninth at 7-under 135, six shots off the pace of second-round leader Bill Glasson.

Today marks the 28th anniversary since his first PGA Tour win at the Milwaukee Open. It took the Long Beach State graduate 130 starts to hoist his first trophy. He’d like nothing better than to be standing green side today with another piece of hardware to take home.

"Here I’m playing pretty well," O’Meara said. "It hasn’t been the best of years because of the injury, but I’m glad the way I’ve been performing the last month and a half. Hopefully, I can play well again (today) and hopefully have a chance to win here."

It wouldn’t be the first time O’Meara cashed a big check here. He won the United Airlines Hawaiian Open in 1985 and can play in the wind when necessary.

"But it’s challenging when the wind is blowing like it is here," O’Meara said. "It was not as strong today, but this is not an easy course. You can make some birdies, but you can make some mistakes, too.

"Today, I put myself in a position to win. I played well on the back nine. I made a big putt on 17 for eagle. You can’t really control what the other guys do. I felt like I didn’t get off to the best start the first six or seven holes, but I’ve hit the ball better. And I played pretty smart."

O’Meara played in four events prior to the injury, including the season-opening winners-only tournament on the Big Island, where he tied for 27th. But then came that one practice swing that led to the torn cartilage, and just like that, O’Meara had to quit the game to get better.

It wasn’t easy being sidelined for the 55-year-old. He thought about coming back early in July, but opted to stay off a little while longer just to make sure he was completely healed.

Smart move.

"Four months away from the game is never easy," said O’Meara, who injured his ribs right before the Masters. "I couldn’t play golf for quite a while and it was frustrating, obviously, especially the first couple of months.

"I came back and played well in Minnesota in my first tournament back (where he finished tied for 10th). I started practicing in the middle of July and there was the possibility that I could have played in the British Open, but I didn’t think it was smart. I didn’t want to push it, to be honest with you."