1998 Open Championship

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1998 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates16–19 July 1998
LocationSouthport, England
Course(s)Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par70[1]
Length7,018 yards (6,417 m)[1]
Field156 players, 81 after cut[1]
Cut146 (+6)[1]
Prize fund£1,700,000
€2,483,810
$2,750,000
Winner's share£300,000
€420,000
$493,500
Champion
United States Mark O'Meara
280 (E), playoff
← 1997
1999 →
Southport is located in England
Southport
Southport
class=notpageimage|
Location in England
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is located in Southport
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
class=notpageimage|
Location in Southport, Merseyside,
north of Liverpool, England

The 1998 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 127th Open Championship, held from 16–19 July at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. In weekend wind and rain, Mark O'Meara won his second major championship of the year and first Open Championship in a playoff over Brian Watts, the 54-hole leader.[2][3][4][5]

Three months earlier, O'Meara won the Masters on the final green by sinking a 20-foot (6 m) birdie putt. At age 41, he became the oldest player to win two majors in a year: Jack Nicklaus (1980), Ben Hogan (1953), and Craig Wood (1941) were all age forty. (Hogan won three majors and turned 41 two weeks after the third.)

At the previous Open at Royal Birkdale seven years earlier in 1991, O'Meara was a co-leader after 54 holes, shot 69, and tied for third.[6]

Course[]

Main article: Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 449 421 407 203 344 480 177 457 411 3,349 403 408 183 498 198 544 416 547 472 3,669 7,018
Par 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 34 4 4 3 4 3 5 4 5 4 36 70

Source:[7][8]
Lengths of the course for previous Opens:[1]

Past champions in the field[]

Made the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Sandy Lyle  Scotland 1985 71 72 75 72 290 +10 T19
Nick Price  Zimbabwe 1994 66 72 82 72 292 +12 T29
Mark Calcavecchia  United States 1989 69 77 73 74 293 +13 T35
Nick Faldo  England 1987, 1990, 1992 72 73 75 75 295 +15 T44
Justin Leonard  United States 1997 73 73 82 69 297 +17 T57

Source:[3]

Missed the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Seve Ballesteros  Spain 1979, 1984, 1988 73 75 148 +8
Tom Watson  United States 1975, 1977,
1980, 1982, 1983		 73 76 149 +9
Tom Lehman  United States 1996 71 79 150 +10
John Daly  United States 1995 73 78 151 +11
Gary Player  South Africa 1959, 1968, 1974 77 74 151 +11

Source:[9]

Round summaries[]

First round[]

Thursday, 16 July 1998

Place Player Country Score To par
T1 John Huston  United States 65 –5
Tiger Woods  United States
T3 Fred Couples  United States 66 –4
Nick Price  Zimbabwe
Loren Roberts  United States
T6 Robert Allenby  Australia 67 –3
Brad Faxon  United States
Freddie Jacobson  Sweden
Davis Love III  United States
Vijay Singh  Fiji

Source:[10]

Second round[]

Friday, 17 July 1998

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Brian Watts  United States 68-69=137 –3
T2 Nick Price  Zimbabwe 66-72=138 –2
Justin Rose (a)  England 72-66=138
Tiger Woods  United States 65-73=138
5 Thomas Bjørn  Denmark 68-71=139 –1
T6 Stephen Ames  Trinidad and Tobago 68-72=140 E
Fred Couples  United States 66-74=140
Jim Furyk  United States 70-70=140
Davis Love III  United States 67-73=140
Mark O'Meara  United States 72-68=140
Jesper Parnevik  Sweden 68-72=140

Source:[9]
Amateurs: Rose (-2), García (+4), De Vooght (+6), McCarthy (+8), Kuchar (+10).

Third round[]

Saturday, 18 July 1998

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Brian Watts  United States 68-69-73=210 E
T2 Jim Furyk  United States 70-70-72=212 +2
Mark O'Meara  United States 72-68-72=212
Jesper Parnevik  Sweden 68-72-72=212
5 Justin Rose (a)  England 72-66-75=213 +3
T6 Thomas Bjørn  Denmark 68-71-76=215 +5
Brad Faxon  United States 67-74-74=215
John Huston  United States 65-77-73=215
Tiger Woods  United States 65-73-77=215
T10 David Duval  United States 70-71-75=216 +6
Costantino Rocca  Italy 72-74-70=216
Raymond Russell  Scotland 68-73-75=216
Katsuyoshi Tomori  Japan 75-71-70=216

Source:[11]

Final round[]

Sunday, 19 July 1998

Place Player Country Score To par Money (£)
T1 Mark O'Meara  United States 72-68-72-68=280 E Playoff
Brian Watts  United States 68-69-73-70=280
3 Tiger Woods  United States 65-73-77-66=281 +1 135,000
T4 Jim Furyk  United States 70-70-72-70=282 +2 76,667
Jesper Parnevik  Sweden 68-72-72-70=282
Justin Rose (a)  England 72-66-75-69=282 0
Raymond Russell  Scotland 68-73-75-66=282 76,667
8 Davis Love III  United States 67-73-77-68=285 +5 49,500
T9 Thomas Bjørn  Denmark 68-71-76-71=286 +6 40,850
Costantino Rocca  Italy 72-74-70-70=286

Sources:[3][12]
Amateurs: Rose (+2), García (+12), De Vooght (+19).

Playoff[]

The four-hole aggregate playoff was played on the concluding holes (15–18).
O'Meara birdied the first, while Watts parred, and they halved the next two holes with pars.
Watts bogeyed the final hole, while O'Meara parred to win the playoff by two strokes and the Claret Jug.

Place Player Country Score To par Money (£)
1 Mark O'Meara  United States 4-4-5-4=17 –1 300,000
2 Brian Watts  United States 5-4-5-5=19 +1 188,000
  • Four-hole aggregate playoff on holes 15–18
Scorecard[]
Hole  15   16   17   18 
Par 5 4 5 4
United States O'Meara −1 −1 −1 −1
United States Watts E E E +1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 32, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  2. ^ Garrity, John (27 July 1998). "Double major". Sports Illustrated.
  3. ^ a b c d Ferguson, Doug (20 July 1998). "O'Meara on the mark again". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1B.
  4. ^ Parascenzo, Marino (20 July 1998). "Major Mark". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B-1.
  5. ^ Ferguson, Doug (20 July 1998). "British Open all American". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. p. 1C.
  6. ^ "Baker-Finch bags Open title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). 22 July 1991. p. D1.
  7. ^ "Royal Birkdale, hole by hole". Wilmington Star News. (North Carolina). Associated Press. 16 July 1998. p. 5C.
  8. ^ "128th Open Championship: course". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 16 July 1998. p. 4C.
  9. ^ a b Ferguson, Doug (18 July 1998). "Birkdale takes its swing". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1D.
  10. ^ Shapiro, Leonard (17 July 1998). "Tiger masters tame conditions". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Washington Post). p. 1B.
  11. ^ Ferguson, Doug (19 July 1998). "Watts up in wind-blown tournament". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1B.
  12. ^ "1998 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2012.

External links[]

Preceded by
1998 U.S. Open
 Major Championships Succeeded by

Coordinates: 53°37′19″N 3°01′59″W / 53.622°N 3.033°W / 53.622; -3.033

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