1988 U.S. Open (golf)
Final round
Strange took the 54-hole lead after a third-round 69, while Faldo was a stroke behind after a 68. Strange and Faldo battled back-and-forth during the final round. Strange three-putted from 15 feet (4.6 m) on the 17th green to fall into a tie, then saved par from a greenside bunker on the 18th to force a Monday playoff.
Playoff
In the playoff, Strange carried a one-stroke lead to the turn after birdies at the 4th and 7th holes. When Faldo bogeyed the 11th, the lead went to two, but Strange bogeyed the next hole to return it to one. Strange rebounded with a birdie on 13 and took a commanding three-shot lead when Faldo bogeyed. Faldo bogeyed three of his last four holes to card a 75, while Strange finished with an even-par 71 and a four-stroke victory.
This was the third U.S. Open at The Country Club and all ended in playoffs. Julius Boros, age 43, defeated Arnold Palmer and Jacky Cupit in 1963, and 20-year-old amateur Francis Ouimet prevailed over Britons Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in 1913.
Strange successfully defended his title in 1989, the first to win consecutive U.S. Opens since Ben Hogan in 1950 and 1951. Brooks Koepka became the first player since Strange to defend his title by winning the U.S. Open in 2017 at Erin Hills and again in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills.
Course
Composite Course
Hole | Name | Yards | Par | Hole | Name | Yards | Par | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Polo Field | 452 | 4 | 10 | Stockton | 439 | 4 | |
2 | Cottage | 185 | 3 | 11 | Primrose 1&2 | 453 | 4 | |
3 | Pond | 448 | 4 | 12 | Primrose 8 | 450 | 4 | |
4 | Hospital | 338 | 4 | 13 | Primrose 9 | 433 | 4 | |
5 | Newton | 439 | 4 | 14 | Quarry | 527 | 5 | |
6 | Bakers | 312 | 4 | 15 | Liverpool | 434 | 4 | |
7 | Plateau | 201 | 3 | 16 | Clyde | 185 | 3 | |
8 | Corner | 385 | 4 | 17 | Elbow | 381 | 4 | |
9 | Himalayas | 510 | 5 | 18 | Home | 438 | 4 | |
Out | 3,270 | 35 | In | 3,740 | 36 | |||
Total | 7,010 | 71 |
Source:
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 16, 1988
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
T1 | ![]() |
68 | −3 |
![]() | |||
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T4 | ![]() |
69 | −2 |
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T9 | ![]() |
70 | −1 |
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Source:
Second round
Friday, June 17, 1988
Defending champion Scott Simpson shot 66 (−5) to lead after 36 holes.
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
69-66=135 | −7 |
2 | ![]() |
69-67=136 | −6 |
T3 | ![]() |
68-69=137 | −5 |
![]() |
70-67=137 | ||
T5 | ![]() |
69-70=139 | −3 |
![]() |
72-67=139 | ||
![]() |
72-67=139 | ||
![]() |
68-71=139 | ||
T9 | ![]() |
73-67=140 | −2 |
![]() |
71-69=140 |
Amateurs: Mayfair (+1), Tolles (+14), Duncan (+15), Rintoul (+16)
Source:
Third round
Saturday, June 18, 1988
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
70-67-69=206 | −7 |
T2 | ![]() |
72-67-68=207 | −6 |
![]() |
68-69-70=207 | ||
![]() |
69-66-72=207 | ||
T5 | ![]() |
69-67-72=208 | −5 |
![]() |
71-69-68=208 | ||
7 | ![]() |
71-72-66=209 | −4 |
8 | ![]() |
72-67-71=210 | −3 |
9 | ![]() |
70-71-70=211 | −2 |
10 | ![]() |
72-70-70=212 | −1 |
Source:
Final round
Sunday, June 19, 1988
Champion |
Silver Cup winner (leading amateur) |
(a) = amateur |
(c) = past champion |
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | ![]() |
70-67-69-72=278 | −6 | Playoff |
![]() |
72-67-68-71=278 | |||
T3 | ![]() |
71-72-66-71=280 | −4 | 41,370 |
![]() |
72-69-72-67=280 | |||
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71-69-68-72=280 | |||
T6 | ![]() |
69-70-76-66=281 | −3 | 25,414 |
![]() |
69-66-72-74=281 | |||
T8 | ![]() |
68-69-70-75=282 | −2 | 20,903 |
![]() |
73-72-71-66=282 | |||
T10 | ![]() |
72-67-71-73=283 | −1 | 17,870 |
![]() |
73-73-70-67=283 |
Leaderboard below the top 10 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) | |
T12 | ![]() |
71-71-72-70=284 | E | 14,781 | |
![]() |
71-72-74-67=284 | ||||
![]() |
69-67-72-76=284 | ||||
![]() |
74-72-69-69=284 | ||||
![]() |
70-71-70-73=284 |
Source:
Amateur: Billy Mayfair (+3)
Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Eagle | Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:
Playoff
Monday, June 20, 1988
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
34-37=71 | E | 180,000 |
2 | ![]() |
35-40=75 | +4 | 90,000 |
Scorecard
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
![]() |
E | E | E | +1 | E | E | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | E | −1 | −1 | E | E | E | E |
![]() |
E | E | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | E | E | E | E | +1 | +1 | +2 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +4 |
Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
Birdie Bogey
Source: