1998 Open Championship

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]

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
Mark O'Meara
280 (E), playoff
Southport
Location in England
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Location in Southport, Merseyside,
north of Liverpool, England

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
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4494214072033444801774574113,3494034081834981985444165474723,6697,018
Par444344344344434354543670

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

Past champions in the field

Made the cut
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Sandy Lyle Scotland198571727572290+10T19
Nick Price Zimbabwe199466728272292+12T29
Mark Calcavecchia United States198969777374293+13T35
Nick Faldo England1987, 1990, 199272737575295+15T44
Justin Leonard United States199773738269297+17T57

Source:[3]

Missed the cut
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2TotalTo par
Seve Ballesteros Spain1979, 1984, 19887375148+8
Tom Watson United States1975, 1977,
1980, 1982, 1983		7376149+9
Tom Lehman United States19967179150+10
John Daly United States19957378151+11
Gary Player South Africa1959, 1968, 19747774151+11

Source:[9]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 16 July 1998

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1John Huston United States65–5
Tiger Woods United States
T3Fred Couples United States66–4
Nick Price Zimbabwe
Loren Roberts United States
T6Robert Allenby Australia67–3
Brad Faxon United States
Freddie Jacobson Sweden
Davis Love III United States
Vijay Singh Fiji

Source:[10]

Second round

Friday, 17 July 1998

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Brian Watts United States68-69=137–3
T2Nick Price Zimbabwe66-72=138–2
Justin Rose (a) England72-66=138
Tiger Woods United States65-73=138
5Thomas Bjørn Denmark68-71=139–1
T6Stephen Ames Trinidad and Tobago68-72=140E
Fred Couples United States66-74=140
Jim Furyk United States70-70=140
Davis Love III United States67-73=140
Mark O'Meara United States72-68=140
Jesper Parnevik Sweden68-72=140

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

Third round

Saturday, 18 July 1998

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Brian Watts United States68-69-73=210E
T2Jim Furyk United States70-70-72=212+2
Mark O'Meara United States72-68-72=212
Jesper Parnevik Sweden68-72-72=212
5Justin Rose (a) England72-66-75=213+3
T6Thomas Bjørn Denmark68-71-76=215+5
Brad Faxon United States67-74-74=215
John Huston United States65-77-73=215
Tiger Woods United States65-73-77=215
T10David Duval United States70-71-75=216+6
Costantino Rocca Italy72-74-70=216
Raymond Russell Scotland68-73-75=216
Katsuyoshi Tomori Japan75-71-70=216

Source:[11]

Final round

Sunday, 19 July 1998

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney (£)
T1Mark O'Meara United States72-68-72-68=280EPlayoff
Brian Watts United States68-69-73-70=280
3Tiger Woods United States65-73-77-66=281+1135,000
T4Jim Furyk United States70-70-72-70=282+276,667
Jesper Parnevik Sweden68-72-72-70=282
Justin Rose (a) England72-66-75-69=2820
Raymond Russell Scotland68-73-75-66=28276,667
8Davis Love III United States67-73-77-68=285+549,500
T9Thomas Bjørn Denmark68-71-76-71=286+640,850
Costantino Rocca Italy72-74-70-70=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.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney (£)
1Mark O'Meara United States4-4-5-4=17–1300,000
2Brian Watts United States5-4-5-5=19+1188,000
  • Four-hole aggregate playoff on holes 15–18
Scorecard
Hole 15  16  17  18 
Par5454
O'Meara−1−1−1−1
WattsEEE+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[3]

References
  1. "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. 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. 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.
Preceded by
1998 U.S. Open		 Major Championships Succeeded by
1998 PGA Championship

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