1988 Open Championship: Seve Ballesteros wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Seve Ballesteros won the 1988 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England with 273 (−11), by 2 strokes over Nick Price.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1988 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 14 July 1988 to 18 July 1988
- Course
- Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England
- Edition
- 117th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 71
- Field
- 153
- Made the cut
- 71 (cut at 148)
- Purse
- £700,000 · winner's share £80,000
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Seve Ballesteros · age 31 · Spain · born Pedreña, Spain
- Champion's title
- 3rd Open title
- Winning score
- 67-71-70-65 = 273 (−11) · won by 2 strokes
- Runner-up
- Nick Price (275)
- 54-hole leader
- Nick Price (206) · Seve Ballesteros was 2 strokes back
- Deciding hole
- No. 16, round 4
- Low amateur
- Paul Broadhurst (296)
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros | 67 | 71 | 70 | 65 | 273 | −11 |
| 2 | Nick Price | 70 | 67 | 69 | 69 | 275 | −9 |
| 3 | Nick Faldo | 71 | 69 | 68 | 71 | 279 | −5 |
| T4 | Fred Couples | 73 | 69 | 71 | 68 | 281 | −3 |
| T4 | Gary Koch | 71 | 72 | 70 | 68 | 281 | −3 |
| 6 | Peter Senior | 70 | 73 | 70 | 69 | 282 | −2 |
| T7 | Isao Aoki | 72 | 71 | 73 | 67 | 283 | −1 |
| T7 | Payne Stewart | 73 | 75 | 68 | 67 | 283 | −1 |
| T7 | David Frost | 71 | 75 | 69 | 68 | 283 | −1 |
| T7 | Sandy Lyle | 73 | 69 | 67 | 74 | 283 | −1 |
What happened at the 1988 Open Championship
Saturday's play was washed out by heavy rain, so the final round was played on Monday 18 July, the first Monday finish in Open history.
At the 16th Ballesteros hit a 9-iron to 3 inches for the birdie that took the lead. At the 18th he chipped to 6 inches, and Price three-putted to close with a 69.
Level with Price, Ballesteros hit a 9-iron to three inches at the 16th "to go ahead by one," then chipped to six inches at the 18th while Price three-putted.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's The Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: the-open.json (The Open room's data), with GNN's Open Championship addendum tables L (top ten by round), H (deciding hole), W (final-day weather).