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 ft 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
Source: Lengths of the course for previous Opens:


 * 1991: 6940 yd, par 70
 * 1983: 6968 yd, par 71
 * 1976: 7001 yd, par 72
 * 1971: 7080 yd, par 73


 * 1965: 7037 yd, par 73
 * 1961: 6844 yd
 * 1954: 6867 yd

First round
Thursday, 16 July 1998 Source:

Second round
Friday, 17 July 1998 Source: Amateurs: Rose (-2), García (+4), De Vooght (+6), McCarthy (+8), Kuchar (+10).

Third round
Saturday, 18 July 1998 Source:

Final round
Sunday, 19 July 1998 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.
 * Four-hole aggregate playoff on holes 15–18

Scorecard
Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par Source: