Mark O'Meara has been OK with it for a long time now.

It was all right being who he was, a guy who had enough talent to win on the PGA Tour more than a dozen times. A guy they always called one of the good guys of golf. A guy who maybe was just too nice to win the big one.

With his one-stroke victory over Fred Couples and David Duval in the 62nd Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, Mark O'Meara shed that stigma.

But not much will change now that he has finally ended one of the longest droughts in major tournament golf.

``If he wins a major, great, but he's had a great career,'' said 1997 Masters champion Tiger Woods, who slipped the green jacket on his best friend Sunday evening. ``I think what's most important for Mark is raising a family. His family is more important than golf. Golf is a vehicle for him to support his family.''

O'Meara's wife, Alicia, and their two children, Michelle and Shaun, were scrambling Sunday near the big oak tree behind the Augusta National clubhouse trying to find the keys to Mark's courtesy car. They had to rush to get back to the house they had rented all week, freshen up, and return to the Augusta National Golf Club to meet the new champion for dinner.

Even though he had finally broken through, winning his first major in 57 tries, winning his first Masters after 15 tries -- the most of any first-time champion -- Alicia O'Meara expects nothing but status quo come this morning.

``Nothing's going to change, Mark is still going to be Mark and we're all going to go on about our lives,'' said Mrs. O'Meara. She issues a cease and desist order to daughter Michelle who is turning handsprings near the putting green, the place where moments earlier her father had received his first green jacket.

For the 41-year-old, chasing a major title long ago took a backseat to family life. So now that this moment that once seemed unattainable has finally arrived, O'Meara isn't about to change a thing. Not even in an attempt to keep up with the young phenom and fellow Masters champ who lives up the street in the ultra-exclusive Isleworth golf community near Orlando, Fla.

``I have no desire at all to trade places with Tiger Woods,'' said O'Meara, who won a U.S. Amateur title in 1979 and was the PGA Tour rookie of the year in 1980. ``I have nothing but admiration for the way he plays the game of golf but, in life, you need to know who you are. Being you and being the best you can be and having something of a normal lifestyle is what's important to me.''

Not even the high-rent district of Isleworth has changed things for O'Meara. Sure, he lives in a $3 million mansion, hangs out with the 22-year-old Tiger, plays golf with other superstar athletes like Ken Griffey Jr. and CEOs.

``He's so even keel, he's got the perfect attitude,'' said Woods, whom O'Meara has taken under his wing since he moved into his Isleworth condo more than one year ago. ``He's so relaxed. He never gets too high and never gets too low. He just kind of goes on about his business.''