1988 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1988 U.S. Open was the 88th U.S. Open, held June 16–20 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb southwest of Boston. Curtis Strange defeated Nick Faldo in an 18-hole playoff for the first of two consecutive U.S. Open titles.

1988 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 16–20, 1988
Location	Brookline, Massachusetts
Course(s)	The Country Club Composite Course
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	7,010 yards (6,410 m)[1]
Field	156 players, 65 after cut
Cut	146 (+4)
Prize fund	$1.0 million
Winner's share	$180,000
Champion
Curtis Strange
278 (−6), playoff

The Country Club 

Location in the United States

The Country Club 

Location in Massachusetts

Final round

Strange took the 54-hole lead after a third-round 69, while Faldo was a stroke behind after a 68.[2] Strange and Faldo battled back-and-forth during the final round. Strange three-putted from 15 feet (4.6 m) on the 17th green to fall into a tie, then saved par from a greenside bunker on the 18th to force a Monday playoff.[3][4][5]

Playoff

In the playoff, Strange carried a one-stroke lead to the turn after birdies at the 4th and 7th holes. When Faldo bogeyed the 11th, the lead went to two, but Strange bogeyed the next hole to return it to one. Strange rebounded with a birdie on 13 and took a commanding three-shot lead when Faldo bogeyed. Faldo bogeyed three of his last four holes to card a 75, while Strange finished with an even-par 71 and a four-stroke victory.[1][6][7]

This was the third U.S. Open at The Country Club and all ended in playoffs. Julius Boros, age 43, defeated Arnold Palmer and Jacky Cupit in 1963, and 20-year-old amateur Francis Ouimet prevailed over Britons Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in 1913.[3][8]

Strange successfully defended his title in 1989, the first to win consecutive U.S. Opens since Ben Hogan in 1950 and 1951.[9] Brooks Koepka became the first player since Strange to defend his title by winning the U.S. Open in 2017 at Erin Hills and again in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills.

Course layout

Main article: The Country Club

Composite Course

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	452	185	448	338	439	312	201	385	510	3,270	439	453	450	433	527	434	185	381	438	3,740	7,010
Par	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	35	4	4	4	4	5	4	3	4	4	36	71

Source:[10]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Scott Simpson	United States	1987	69	66	72	74	281	−3	T6
Fuzzy Zoeller	United States	1984	73	72	71	66	282	−2	T8
Raymond Floyd	United States	1986	73	72	73	67	285	+1	T17
Hale Irwin	United States	1974, 1979	71	71	72	71	285	+1	T17
Tom Watson	United States	1982	74	71	69	75	289	+5	T36
Lee Trevino	United States	1968, 1971	73	73	73	71	290	+6	T40
David Graham	Australia	1981	77	69	74	71	291	+7	T47
Larry Nelson	United States	1983	78	67	80	72	297	+13	T62

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1962, 1967, 1972, 1980	74	73	147	+5
Gary Player	South Africa	1965	77	72	149	+7
Andy North	United States	1978, 1985	74	75	149	+7
Hubert Green	United States	1977	76	79	155	+13

Source:[11][12]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1988

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Bob Gilder	United States	68	−3
	Sandy Lyle	Scotland
	Mike Nicolette	United States
T4	Paul Azinger	United States	69	−2
	Seve Ballesteros	Spain
	Dick Mast	United States
	Larry Mize	United States
	Scott Simpson	United States
T9	Craig Stadler	United States	70	−1
	Curtis Strange	United States
	Lanny Wadkins	United States

Source:[13]

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1988

Defending champion Scott Simpson shot 66 (−5) to lead after 36 holes.[12]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Scott Simpson	United States	69-66=135	−7
2	Larry Mize	United States	69-67=136	−6
T3	Bob Gilder	United States	68-69=137	−5
	Curtis Strange	United States	70-67=137
T5	Paul Azinger	United States	69-70=139	−3
	Fred Couples	United States	72-67=139
	Nick Faldo	England	72-67=139
	Sandy Lyle	Scotland	68-71=139
T9	Jay Haas	United States	73-67=140	−2
	D. A. Weibring	United States	71-69=140

Source:[12]

Amateurs: Mayfair (+1), Tolles (+14), Duncan (+15), Rintoul (+16)

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1988

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Curtis Strange	United States	70-67-69=206	−7
T2	Nick Faldo	England	72-67-68=207	−6
	Bob Gilder	United States	68-69-70=207
	Scott Simpson	United States	69-66-72=207
T5	Larry Mize	United States	69-67-72=208	−5
	D. A. Weibring	United States	71-69-68=208
7	Mark O'Meara	United States	71-72-66=209	−4
8	Fred Couples	United States	72-67-71=210	−3
9	Lanny Wadkins	United States	70-71-70=211	−2
10	Ken Green	United States	72-70-70=212	−1

Source:[2]

Final round

Sunday, June 19, 1988

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Curtis Strange	United States	70-67-69-72=278	−6	Playoff
	Nick Faldo	England	72-67-68-71=278
T3	Mark O'Meara	United States	71-72-66-71=280	−4	41,370
	Steve Pate	United States	72-69-72-67=280
	D. A. Weibring	United States	71-69-68-72=280
T6	Paul Azinger	United States	69-70-76-66=281	−3	25,414
	Scott Simpson	United States	69-66-72-74=281
T8	Bob Gilder	United States	68-69-70-75=282	−2	20,903
	Fuzzy Zoeller	United States	73-72-71-66=282
T10	Fred Couples	United States	72-67-71-73=283	−1	17,870
	Payne Stewart	United States	73-73-70-67=283

Source:[3][4][5]

Amateur: Billy Mayfair (+3)

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	4	5	4	3	4	4
Strange	−7	−6	−5	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−6	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−6	−6
Faldo	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−7	−6	−6	−6
O'Meara	−4	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4
Pate	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	−1	−1	−3	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−4
Weibring	−5	−4	−4	−5	−6	−6	−6	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4	−4
Simpson	−6	−6	−5	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−1	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3
Gilder	−5	−5	−5	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−4	−3	−3	−2	−2	−3	−2	−2	−1	−2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:[4][14]

Playoff

Monday, June 20, 1988

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Curtis Strange	United States	71	E	180,000
2	Nick Faldo	England	75	+4	90,000

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	4	5	4	3	4	4
Strange	E	E	E	+1	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	−1	−1	E	E	E	E
Faldo	E	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+2	+1	+2	+2	+3	+4

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Source:[6][10]

References

1. White, Gordon S., Jr. (June 21, 1988). "Strange wins Open for dad". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. (New York Times). p. C-1.
2. Boswell, Thomas (June 19, 1988). "Strange takes one-shot lead at 88th Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 1C.
3. Parascenzo, Marino (June 20, 1988). "Strange Open tied, playoff today". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 11.
4. Bunch, Ken (June 20, 1988). "Strange, Faldo gain Open playoff". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 2.
5. Boswell, Thomas (June 20, 1988). "U.S. Open title waits another Day". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 1C.
6. "Strange end to the Open comes at 13". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Los Angeles Times). June 21, 1988. p. 1D.
7. Reilly, Rick (June 27, 1988). "Strange finish". Sports Illustrated.
8. "U.S. Open history: 1988". USGA. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
9. "U.S. Open history: 1989". USGA. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
10. "U.S. Open: hole-by-hole". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 21, 1988.
11. "1988 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
12. Bonk, Thomas (June 18, 1988). "Simpson's no prophet, leads Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1C.
13. Bonk, Thomas (June 17, 1988). "Gilder shares lead with Lyle and Nicolette". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1C.
14. "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 19, 2019.

External links

• About.com – 1988 U.S. Open
• USGA Championship Database

Preceded by 1988 Masters	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1988 Open Championship