1988 U.S. Open (golf)

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)
Field	156 players, 65 after cut
Cut	146 (+4)
Prize fund	US$1.0 million
Winner's share	$180,000
Champion
	Curtis Strange
	278 (−6), playoff
	← 1987 1989 →

The Country Club

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Location in the United States

The Country Club

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Location in Massachusetts

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.

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

Composite Course

Hole	Name	Yards	Par	Hole	Name	Yards	Par
1	Polo Field	452	4	10	Stockton	439	4
2	Cottage	185	3	11	Primrose 1&2	453	4
3	Pond	448	4	12	Primrose 8	450	4
4	Hospital	338	4	13	Primrose 9	433	4
5	Newton	439	4	14	Quarry	527	5
6	Bakers	312	4	15	Liverpool	434	4
7	Plateau	201	3	16	Clyde	185	3
8	Corner	385	4	17	Elbow	381	4
9	Himalayas	510	5	18	Home	438	4
Out		3,270	35	In		3,740	36
				Total		7,010	71

Source:^[10]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1988

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

Source:^[4]^[11]

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1988

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

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

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

Source:^[12]^[4]^[11]

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1988

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

Source:^[2]

Final round

Sunday, June 19, 1988

Champion
Silver Cup winner (leading amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion

*Top 10*
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (US$)
T1	Curtis Strange	70-67-69-72=278	−6	Playoff
T1	Nick Faldo	72-67-68-71=278	−6	Playoff
T3	Mark O'Meara	71-72-66-71=280	−4	41,370
	Steve Pate	72-69-72-67=280
	D. A. Weibring	71-69-68-72=280
T6	Paul Azinger	69-70-76-66=281	−3	25,414
T6	Scott Simpson (c)	69-66-72-74=281	−3	25,414
T8	Bob Gilder	68-69-70-75=282	−2	20,903
T8	Fuzzy Zoeller (c)	73-72-71-66=282	−2	20,903
T10	Fred Couples	72-67-71-73=283	−1	17,870
T10	Payne Stewart	73-73-70-67=283	−1	17,870

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (US$)
T12	Andy Bean	71-71-72-70=284	E	14,781
	Ben Crenshaw	71-72-74-67=284
	Larry Mize	69-67-72-76=284
	Dan Pohl	74-72-69-69=284
	Lanny Wadkins	70-71-70-73=284

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
Azinger	+2	+2	+1	E	+1	E	−1	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−3	−3
S 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
Zoeller	+3	+3	+3	+2	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+1	+1	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2
Couples	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−3	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1
Stewart	+2	+2	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	E	−1	E	E	−1	−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

	Eagle		Birdie		Bogey		Double bogey

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:^[4]^[11]

Playoff

Monday, June 20, 1988

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (US$)
1	Curtis Strange	34-37=71	E	180,000
2	Nick Faldo	35-40=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

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

External links

GolfCompendium.com – 1988 U.S. Open
USGA Championship Database

42°18′54″N 71°08′53″W / 42.315°N 71.148°W / 42.315; -71.148

[tcc88nyt-1] White, Gordon S. Jr. (June 21, 1988). "Strange wins Open for dad". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. (New York Times). p. C-1.

[ergstosld-2] Boswell, Thomas (June 19, 1988). "Strange takes one-shot lead at 88th Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 1C.

[ppguso88rd4-3] Parascenzo, Marino (June 20, 1988). "Strange Open tied, playoff today". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 11.

[mssfgopl-4] Bunch, Ken (June 20, 1988). "Strange, Faldo gain Open playoff". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 2.

[ergwpad-5] Boswell, Thomas (June 20, 1988). "U.S. Open title waits another Day". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 1C.

[setocath-6] "Strange end to the Open comes at 13". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Los Angeles Times). June 21, 1988. p. 1D.

[sijn88-7] Reilly, Rick (June 27, 1988). "Strange finish". Sports Illustrated.

[usga88-8] "U.S. Open history: 1988". USGA. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2012.

[usga89-9] "U.S. Open history: 1989". USGA. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2012.

[tcc88spok-10] "U.S. Open: hole-by-hole". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 21, 1988.

[ldr-11] "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 19, 2019.

[snplopn-12] Bonk, Thomas (June 18, 1988). "Simpson's no prophet, leads Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1C.

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