1988 Open Championship
The 1988 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 117th Open Championship, held from 14 to 18 July at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. In a first-ever Monday finish, Seve Ballesteros shot a final round 65 to capture his third Open Championship and fifth major title, two strokes ahead of runner-up Nick Price, the 54-hole leader.[2]
 Front cover of the 1988 Open Annual | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 14–18 July 1988 |
| Location | Lytham St Annes, England |
| Course(s) | Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club |
| Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 71[1] |
| Length | 6,857 yards (6,270 m)[1] |
| Field | 153 players, 71 after cut[1] |
| Cut | 148 (+6)[1] |
| Prize fund | £500,000 $750,000 |
| Winner's share | £80,000 $136,000 |
| Champion | |
 Seve Ballesteros | |
| 273 (−11) | |
St Annes
Scheduled to finish on Sunday, heavy rain on Saturday caused flooding of several greens and the third round was scratched after play was started. Under European Tour rules, if less than half of the players had finished their rounds, the scores for that day were discarded. Since no player had finished, all the scores from Saturday were scrapped. Sunday was briefly scheduled for 36 holes, but due to the flooding, it was decided the course could not be readied in time for the early morning tee times. The third round was played on Sunday and the fourth on Monday, the first time in history the Open's final round finished on a Monday.[3][4][5]
Course layout
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 206 | 437 | 457 | 393 | 212 | 490 | 549 | 394 | 164 | 3,302 | 334 | 542 | 198 | 342 | 445 | 463 | 357 | 462 | 412 | 3,555 | 6,857 |
| Par | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
Source:[6]
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, 14 July 1988
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros | 67 | −4 |
| T2 |  Brad Faxon | 69 | −2 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wayne Grady | |||
| T4 | Don Pooley | 70 | −1 |
 Nick Price | |||
| Noel Ratcliffe | |||
| Peter Senior | |||
| T8 | Andy Bean | 71 | E |
 Bob Charles | |||
 Howard Clark | |||
| Nick Faldo | |||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} David Frost | |||
| Jay Haas | |||
| Mark James | |||
| Gary Koch | |||
| David J. Russell | |||
| Andrew Sherborne | |||
| Bob Tway |
Second round
Friday, 15 July 1988
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Price | 70-67=137 | −5 |
| 2 | Seve Ballesteros | 67-71=138 | −4 |
| T3 | Nick Faldo | 71-69=140 | −2 |
| Craig Stadler | 72-68=140 | ||
| 5 | Andy Bean | 71-70=141 | −1 |
| T6 | Fred Couples | 73-69=142 | E |
 Sandy Lyle | 73-69=142 | ||
| Bob Tway | 71-71=142 | ||
| T9 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Isao Aoki | 72-71=143 | +1 |
| Chip Beck | 72-71=143 | ||
| Howard Clark | 71-72=143 | ||
| Brad Faxon | 69=74=143 | ||
| Gary Koch | 71-72=143 | ||
| Don Pooley | 70-73=143 | ||
| Wayne Riley | 72-71=143 | ||
 Eduardo Romero | 72-71=143 | ||
| Peter Senior | 70-73=143 | ||
| Andrew Sherborne | 71-72=143 |
Amateurs: Broadhurst (+4), Cook (+11), Foster (+11), Härdin (+12), Nash (+12), Rymer (+18), Prosser (+21).
Third round
Sunday, 17 July 1988
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Price | 70-67-69=206 | −7 |
| T2 | Seve Ballesteros | 67-71-70=208 | −5 |
| Nick Faldo | 71-69-68=208 | ||
| 4 | Sandy Lyle | 73-69-67=209 | −4 |
| T5 | Andy Bean | 71-70-71=212 | −1 |
| Larry Nelson | 73-71-68=212 | ||
| Don Pooley | 70-73-69=212 | ||
| Eduardo Romero | 72-71-69=212 | ||
| T9 | Fred Couples | 73-69-71=213 | E |
| Brad Faxon | 69-74-70=213 | ||
| Gary Koch | 71-72-70=213 | ||
| Peter Senior | 70-73-70=213 |
Final round
Monday, 18 July 1988
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros | 67-71-70-65=273 | −11 | 80,000 |
| 2 | Nick Price | 70-67-69-69=275 | −9 | 60,000 |
| 3 | Nick Faldo | 71-69-68-71=279 | −5 | 47,000 |
| T4 | Fred Couples | 73-69-71-68=281 | −3 | 33,500 |
| Gary Koch | 71-72-70-68=281 | |||
| 6 | Peter Senior | 70-73-70-69=282 | −2 | 27,000 |
| T7 | Isao Aoki | 72-71-73-67=283 | −1 | 21,000 |
| David Frost | 71-75-69-68=283 | |||
| Sandy Lyle | 73-69-67-74=283 | |||
| Payne Stewart | 73-75-68-67=283 |
Amateurs: Broadhurst (+12).
References
- "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 44, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- Diaz, Jaime (25 July 1988). "Mano a mano on the links". Sports Illustrated.
- Bonk, Thomas (17 July 1988). "Rain washes out play at third round of British Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1F.
- "British Open rain burns Green". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. 17 July 1988. p. D1.
- Pye, Steven (16 July 2015). "How Seve Ballesteros won his last major championship at the Open in 1988". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- Platts, Mitchell (11 July 2011). "Focus on the 130th Open Championship". European Tour. Retrieved 29 June 2012.