# 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.
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:

## Round summaries
### First round

Thursday, 16 July 1998
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| T1 | John Huston | 65 | −5 |
| T1 | Tiger Woods | 65 | −5 |
| T3 | Fred Couples | 66 | −4 |
| T3 | Nick Price | 66 | −4 |
| T3 | Loren Roberts | 66 | −4 |
| T6 | Robert Allenby | 67 | −3 |
| T6 | Brad Faxon | 67 | −3 |
| T6 | Freddie Jacobson | 67 | −3 |
| T6 | Davis Love III | 67 | −3 |
| T6 | Vijay Singh | 67 | −3 |
Source:

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

### Final round

Sunday, 19 July 1998
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
| T1 | Mark O'Meara | 72-68-72-68=280 | E | Playoff |
| T1 | Brian Watts | 68-69-73-70=280 | E | Playoff |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | 65-73-77-66=281 | +1 | 135,000 |
| T4 | Jim Furyk | 70-70-72-70=282 | +2 | 76,667 |
| T4 | Jesper Parnevik | 68-72-72-70=282 | +2 | 76,667 |
| T4 | Justin Rose (a) | 72-66-75-69=282 | +2 | 0 |
| T4 | Raymond Russell | 68-73-75-66=282 | +2 | 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 |
| T9 | Costantino Rocca | 72-74-70-70=286 | +6 | 40,850 |
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 | 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: