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
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Southport is located in England
Southport
Southport
Location in England
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is located in Southport
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
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 to 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]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 16 July 1998

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

Source:[9]

Second round

Friday, 17 July 1998

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

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

Third round

Saturday, 18 July 1998

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

Source:[11]

Final round

Sunday, 19 July 1998

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
T1 United States Mark O'Meara 72-68-72-68=280 E Playoff
United States Brian Watts 68-69-73-70=280
3 United States Tiger Woods 65-73-77-66=281 +1 135,000
T4 United States Jim Furyk 70-70-72-70=282 +2 76,667
Sweden Jesper Parnevik 68-72-72-70=282
England Justin Rose (a) 72-66-75-69=282 0
Scotland Raymond Russell 68-73-75-66=282 76,667
8 United States Davis Love III 67-73-77-68=285 +5 49,500
T9 Denmark Thomas Bjørn 68-71-76-71=286 +6 40,850
Italy Costantino Rocca 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 Score To par Money (£)
1 United States Mark O'Meara 4-4-5-4=17 −1 300,000
2 United States Brian Watts 5-4-5-5=19 +1 188,000
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 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. ^ Shapiro, Leonard (17 July 1998). "Tiger masters tame conditions". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Washington Post). p. 1B.
  10. ^ Ferguson, Doug (18 July 1998). "Birkdale takes its swing". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1D.
  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

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

1998 Men's major golf championships
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