1998 U.S. Senior Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Hale Irwin, 285
Where it was played: Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California
Tournament dates: July 23-26, 1998
Leader after first round: Raymond Floyd, 70
Leader after second round: Raymond Floyd, 140
Leader after third round: Raymond Floyd, 213
What Happened in the 1998 U.S. Senior Open
Hale Irwin got off to a terrible start in the 1998 U.S. Senior Open, but he had a great finish. After opening with a first-round 77 — his worst competitive score of the year — Irwin birdied two of the final three holes to claim the trophy.First-round leader Raymond Floyd's 70 was the only below-par score of the opening day. Irwin's 77 left him seven strokes off the pace. (And that 77 remains today the highest first-round score by anyone who went on to win the USSO.)
A 68 in the second round left Irwin still five behind Floyd's pace. After the third round, Irwin was closer — tied for second (with Dave Stockton and Isao Aoki), three behind Floyd.
In the final round, Vicente Fernandez first made a charge to the top of the leaderboard. Fernandez's closing 68 gave him the clubhouse lead with multiple groups still on the course.
Irwin was one behind Fernandez when he reached the 16th hole. But he tied the lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on that hole. On the 17th, Irwin lipped out a 20-foot birdie try. But on the final hole, another birdie putt from 12 feet found the hole. And Irwin found himself with a one-shot victory.
And Floyd? He faded to third place with a final-round 74 that included just one birdie. Floyd had only two birdies over the final 36 holes. Floyd was just the second golfer in U.S. Senior Open history to lead the first three rounds but fail to win.
Irwin, already a 3-time winner of the U.S. Open, was the seventh golfer to win both the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open. And having won the 1998 Senior PGA Championship earlier in the year, he was the third golfer to win both the USSO and Senior PGA in the same year.
1998 U.S. Senior Open Final Scores
| Hale Irwin | 77-68-71-69—285 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 73-71-74-68—286 |
| Raymond Floyd | 70-70-73-74—287 |
| Isao Aoki | 72-71-73-72—288 |
| Brian Barnes | 72-72-75-69—288 |
| Dave Stockton | 73-70-73-73—289 |
| Hugh Baiocchi | 71-73-73-73—290 |
| Dan Wood | 75-73-72-70—290 |
| Jose Maria Canizares | 73-72-74-71—290 |
| Ed Dougherty | 72-76-70-72—290 |
| Gil Morgan | 73-72-73-72—290 |
| John Mahaffey | 76-70-74-71—291 |
| Tom Jenkins | 73-73-71-75—292 |
| Mike McCullough | 74-77-71-70—292 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 74-72-79-67—292 |
| Dana Quigley | 77-74-73-69—293 |
| Jim Colbert | 76-72-71-74—293 |
| Billy King | 72-75-73-73—293 |
| David Graham | 78-74-72-70—294 |
| Bruce Summerhays | 71-71-77-76—295 |
| Simon Hobday | 75-72-78-70—295 |
| J.C. Snead | 75-74-74-73—296 |
| Roy Vucinich | 71-71-75-79—296 |
| Bob Duval | 79-74-75-68—296 |
| Tom Shaw | 72-75-72-77—296 |
| Frank Conner | 76-76-68-77—297 |
| Charles Coody | 75-75-73-74—297 |
| Dale Douglass | 77-75-73-73—298 |
| Bob Eastwood | 76-72-75-75—298 |
| Al Geiberger | 77-73-75-73—298 |
| Bob Murphy | 71-74-76-77—298 |
| Jay Sigel | 71-78-75-74—298 |
| Gary McCord | 74-74-73-78—299 |
| Gibby Gilbert | 72-72-77-78—299 |
| Bobby Cole | 75-78-74-72—299 |
| Bob Charles | 77-74-73-75—299 |
| DeWitt Weaver | 76-77-74-73—300 |
| Kermit Zarley | 77-74-77-74—302 |
| Bobby Stroble | 75-74-80-73—302 |
| Leonard Thompson | 76-75-78-73—302 |
| Walter Morgan | 73-75-77-77—302 |
| John Grace | 72-74-77-79—302 |
| Ron Benson | 74-76-77-76—303 |
| David Oakley | 79-75-70-79—303 |
| Buddy Whitten | 75-74-75-79—303 |
| Tom Wargo | 76-78-76-73—303 |
| Bob Smith | 73-79-74-77—303 |
| Calvin Peete | 75-79-74-76—304 |
| John Jacobs | 75-76-78-75—304 |
| Ray Carrasco | 79-74-75-76—304 |
| Arnold Palmer | 78-76-75-76—305 |
| Jeff Van Wagenen | 73-75-83-75—306 |
| Steve Heckel | 74-73-79-81—307 |
| Glen Stubblefield | 78-76-80-74—308 |
| Randy Petri | 78-72-80-78—308 |
| Dave Eichelberger | 73-76-81-79—309 |
| Bruce Crampton | 81-73-80-76—310 |
| Tommy Price | 79-73-78-81—311 |
| a-Joel Hirsch | 72-78-83-81—314 |
| Jerry Breaux | 78-75-79-82—314 |
| Rocky Thompson | 79-75-78-83—315 |
| Tony Jacklin | 77-77-87-75—316 |
Sources:
Brown, Rick. "Birdie finish gives Irwin title," The Des Moines (Iowa) Register, July 27, 1998.
espn.com. Golf Leaderboard, U.S. Senior Open Championship, 1998, https://www.espn.com/golf/leaderboard?tournamentId=401264680.
Midland (Mich.) Daily News. "Late birdies give Irwin Senior Open win," Associated Press, July 27, 1998.
PGATour.com. U.S. Senior Open Championship, Past Results, https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions/tournaments/2026/u.s-senior-open-championship/S2026512/past-results.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Senior Open, Champions, https://championships.usga.org/ussenioropen/u-s--senior-open-champions.html.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Senior Open, Tournament Records, https://championships.usga.org/content/championships/ussenioropen/u-s--senior-open-records.html.
