1998 Open Championship

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-metre) 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.) This was also the first major championship since the 1961 PGA Championship in which Nicklaus was not in the field.

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

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

Source:^[9]

Second round

Friday, 17 July 1998

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

Third round

Saturday, 18 July 1998

Source:^[11]

Final round

Sunday, 19 July 1998

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.

• Four-hole aggregate playoff on holes 15–18

Scorecard

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

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. 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. Associated Press. p. 1C.
6. ^ "Baker-Finch bags Open title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Los Angeles Times). 22 July 1991. p. D1.
7. ^ "Royal Birkdale, hole by hole". Wilmington Star News. 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. (Washington Post). p. 1B.
10. ^ Ferguson, Doug (18 July 1998). "Birkdale takes its swing". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. p. 1D.
11. ^ Ferguson, Doug (19 July 1998). "Watts up in wind-blown tournament". Eugene Register-Guard. 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)