1989 Open Championship: Mark Calcavecchia wins at Royal Troon Golf Club (Old Course)
Mark Calcavecchia won the 1989 Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club (Old Course), Scotland with 275 (−13), beating Wayne Grady and Greg Norman in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1989 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 20 July 1989 to 23 July 1989
- Course
- Royal Troon Golf Club (Old Course), Scotland
- Edition
- 118th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 72
- Field
- 156
- Made the cut
- 80 (cut at 146)
- Purse
- £750,000 · winner's share £80,000
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Mark Calcavecchia · age 29 · USA · born Laurel, USA
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- Winning score
- 71-68-68-68 = 275 (−13)
- Runners-up
- Wayne Grady (275), Greg Norman (275)
- 54-hole leader
- Wayne Grady (204) · Mark Calcavecchia was 3 strokes back
- Playoff
- 4-hole aggregate (first); beat Wayne Grady; Greg Norman; Calcavecchia 13 (4-3-3-3); Grady 16 (4-4-4-4); Norman did not hole out
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round playoff, playoff hole 4
- Low amateur
- Russell Claydon (293)
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Calcavecchia | 71 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 275 | −13 |
| T2 | Wayne Grady | 68 | 67 | 69 | 71 | 275 | −13 |
| T2 | Greg Norman | 69 | 70 | 72 | 64 | 275 | −13 |
| 4 | Tom Watson | 69 | 68 | 68 | 72 | 277 | −11 |
| 5 | Jodie Mudd | 73 | 67 | 68 | 70 | 278 | −10 |
| T6 | Fred Couples | 68 | 71 | 68 | 72 | 279 | −9 |
| T6 | David Feherty | 71 | 67 | 69 | 72 | 279 | −9 |
| T8 | Paul Azinger | 68 | 73 | 67 | 72 | 280 | −8 |
| T8 | Payne Stewart | 72 | 65 | 69 | 74 | 280 | −8 |
| T8 | Eduardo Romero | 68 | 70 | 75 | 67 | 280 | −8 |
What happened at the 1989 Open Championship
Norman opened the final round with six straight birdies and shot 64 to set the target, while Calcavecchia chipped in from about 60 feet at the 12th.
At the fourth playoff hole (18th), Norman drove into a fairway bunker, hit the bunker face and then went out of bounds, while Calcavecchia's 5-iron to 6 feet set up a winning birdie.
On the fourth playoff hole (the 18th), Norman drove into a fairway bunker, hit the face and went out of bounds ("his great length was his undoing at the last"), while Calcavecchia hit a 5-iron to six feet for birdie.
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).