1998 Open Championship

1998 Open Championship

Tournament information
Dates	16–19 July 1998
Location	Southport, England
Course	Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Tour(s)	European Tour PGA Tour Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par	70 [1]
Length	7,018 yards (6,417 m) [1]
Field	156 players, 81 after cut [1]
Cut	146 (+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
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Southport

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Location in England

Royal Birkdale Golf Club

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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]

1991: 6,940 yards (6,346 m), par 70 1983: 6,968 yards (6,372 m), par 71 1976: 7,001 yards (6,402 m), par 72 1971: 7,080 yards (6,474 m), par 73

1965: 7,037 yards (6,435 m), par 73 1961: 6,844 yards (6,258 m) 1954: 6,867 yards (6,279 m)

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 16 July 1998

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

Source: ^[9]

Second round

Friday, 17 July 1998

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Brian Watts	68-69=137	−3
T2	Nick Price	66-72=138	−2
	Justin Rose (a)	72-66=138
	Tiger Woods	65-73=138
5	Thomas Bjørn	68-71=139	−1
T6	Stephen Ames	68-72=140	E
	Fred Couples	66-74=140
	Jim Furyk	70-70=140
	Davis Love III	67-73=140
	Mark O'Meara	72-68=140
	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	Brian Watts	68-69-73=210	E
T2	Jim Furyk	70-70-72=212	+2
	Mark O'Meara	72-68-72=212
	Jesper Parnevik	68-72-72=212
5	Justin Rose (a)	72-66-75=213	+3
T6	Thomas Bjørn	68-71-76=215	+5
	Brad Faxon	67-74-74=215
	John Huston	65-77-73=215
	Tiger Woods	65-73-77=215
T10	David Duval	70-71-75=216	+6
	Costantino Rocca	72-74-70=216
	Raymond Russell	68-73-75=216
	Katsuyoshi Tomori	75-71-70=216

Source: ^[11]

Final round

Sunday, 19 July 1998

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
T1	Mark O'Meara	72-68-72-68=280	E	Playoff
	Brian Watts	68-69-73-70=280
3	Tiger Woods	65-73-77-66=281	+1	135,000
T4	Jim Furyk	70-70-72-70=282	+2	76,667
	Jesper Parnevik	68-72-72-70=282
	Justin Rose (a)	72-66-75-69=282		0
	Raymond Russell	68-73-75-66=282		76,667
8	Davis Love III	67-73-77-68=285	+5	49,500
T9	Thomas Bjørn	68-71-76-71=286	+6	40,850
	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	Mark O'Meara	4-4-5-4=17	−1	300,000
2	Brian Watts	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
O'Meara	−1	−1	−1	−1
Watts	E	E	E	+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. 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

• Royal Birkdale 1998 (Official site)
• 127th Open Championship – Royal Birkdale (European Tour)

53°37′19″N3°01′59″W / 53.622°N 3.033°W / 53.622; -3.033