Golf Network News
Sunday 19 July 1998European Tour · PGA TourYear in Review
O'Meara wins the Open
Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, England · Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 July 1998 · Mark O'Meara’s win no. 4 on the European Tour · purse £1,700,000 GBP · Four-hole aggregate playoff (holes 15-18) played on Sunday 19 July after the fourth round (Wikipedia)
The headline is set by GNN from the record. Reports from the papers of the day are below as they are found.
The weather
16 h 09 m
of daylight on the final day, the sun 57° up at noon, and that night a waning crescent moon (computed from the date and the place).
- R116°/12°C · wind 14 km/h WSW, gusts 24 · 0 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R216°/13°C · wind 33 km/h WSW, gusts 53 · 5 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R317°/13°C · wind 39 km/h W, gusts 62 · 0.6 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R418°/14°C · wind 24 km/h SSE, gusts 46 · 5.9 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
The name over time
- The Open
1860–2026 in our record, 154 editions.
The ones it got away from
- Brian Watts USA · 28054-hole leader; tied O'Meara at 280 and lost the four-hole aggregate playoff by two strokes, bogeying the final playoff hole (18th) 1998 Open Championship (Wikipedia)
156 started · cut +6, 81 made it
Same week
Men's major
The Open
Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport
4 of 5 researched
Winner
Runner-up: Brian Watts
From the papers
Journeyman Watts performed like anything but a no-name (AP), CNN/SI (Wayback copy)
19 July 1998
Long term, I'm not sure. But tomorrow I'm going home.
Top 10
| Pos | Player | Rounds | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark O'Meara | 72 · 68 · 72 · 68 | 280 | E |
| 2 | Brian Watts | 68 · 69 · 73 · 70 | 280 | E |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | 65 · 73 · 77 · 66 | 281 | +1 |
| T4 | Jim Furyk | 70 · 70 · 72 · 70 | 282 | +2 |
| T4 | Jesper Parnevik | 68 · 72 · 72 · 70 | 282 | +2 |
| T4 | Justin Rose | 72 · 66 · 75 · 69 | 282 | +2 |
| T4 | Raymond Russell | 68 · 73 · 75 · 66 | 282 | +2 |
| 8 | Davis Love III | 67 · 73 · 77 · 68 | 285 | +5 |
| T9 | Thomas Bjørn | 68 · 71 · 76 · 71 | 286 | +6 |
| T9 | Costantino Rocca | 72 · 74 · 70 · 70 | 286 | +6 |
The golfer
born 1957-01-13, Goldsboro, North Carolina; USA; turned pro 1980; age 41 that week; tour wins to date: 4; majors to date: 2; world No. 12 that week (OWGR rankBefore (OWGR player profile events table, 1998)).
What’s in the bag
No bag on file yet