1998 Open Championship
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.
Course
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:
Lengths of the course for previous Opens:
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Round summaries
First round
Thursday, 16 July 1998
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
T1 | ![]() |
65 | −5 |
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T3 | ![]() |
66 | −4 |
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T6 | ![]() |
67 | −3 |
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Source:
Second round
Friday, 17 July 1998
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
68-69=137 | −3 |
T2 | ![]() |
66-72=138 | −2 |
![]() |
72-66=138 | ||
![]() |
65-73=138 | ||
5 | ![]() |
68-71=139 | −1 |
T6 | ![]() |
68-72=140 | E |
![]() |
66-74=140 | ||
![]() |
70-70=140 | ||
![]() |
67-73=140 | ||
![]() |
72-68=140 | ||
![]() |
68-72=140 |
Source:
Amateurs: Rose (-2), García (+4), De Vooght (+6), McCarthy (+8), Kuchar (+10).
Third round
Saturday, 18 July 1998
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
68-69-73=210 | E |
T2 | ![]() |
70-70-72=212 | +2 |
![]() |
72-68-72=212 | ||
![]() |
68-72-72=212 | ||
5 | ![]() |
72-66-75=213 | +3 |
T6 | ![]() |
68-71-76=215 | +5 |
![]() |
67-74-74=215 | ||
![]() |
65-77-73=215 | ||
![]() |
65-73-77=215 | ||
T10 | ![]() |
70-71-75=216 | +6 |
![]() |
72-74-70=216 | ||
![]() |
68-73-75=216 | ||
![]() |
75-71-70=216 |
Source:
Final round
Sunday, 19 July 1998
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | ![]() |
72-68-72-68=280 | E | Playoff |
![]() |
68-69-73-70=280 | |||
3 | ![]() |
65-73-77-66=281 | +1 | 135,000 |
T4 | ![]() |
70-70-72-70=282 | +2 | 76,667 |
![]() |
68-72-72-70=282 | |||
![]() |
72-66-75-69=282 | 0 | ||
![]() |
68-73-75-66=282 | 76,667 | ||
8 | ![]() |
67-73-77-68=285 | +5 | 49,500 |
T9 | ![]() |
68-71-76-71=286 | +6 | 40,850 |
![]() |
72-74-70-70=286 |
Sources:
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 | ![]() |
4-4-5-4=17 | −1 | 300,000 |
2 | ![]() |
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 |
![]() |
−1 | −1 | −1 | −1 |
![]() |
E | E | E | +1 |
Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
Eagle | Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey |
Source: