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. Strange and Faldo battled back-and-forth during the final round. Strange three-putted from on the 17th green to fall into a tie, then saved par from a greenside bunker on the 18th to force a Monday playoff.

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.

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.

Strange successfully defended his title in 1989, the first to win consecutive U.S. Opens since Ben Hogan in 1950 and 1951. 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

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar1Polo Field4524 10Stockton43942Cottage185311Primrose 1&245343Pond448412Primrose 845044Hospital338413Primrose 943345Newton439414Quarry52756Bakers312415Liverpool43447Plateau201316Clyde18538Corner385417Elbow38149Himalayas510518Home4384 Out 3,27035In 3,74036 Total 7,01071 Source:

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 16, 1988 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Bob Gilder68−3 Sandy Lyle Mike NicoletteT4 Paul Azinger69−2 Seve Ballesteros Dick Mast Larry Mize Scott SimpsonT9 Craig Stadler70−1 Curtis Strange Lanny Wadkins Source:

Second round Friday, June 17, 1988

Defending champion Scott Simpson shot 66 (−5) to lead after 36 holes. PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Scott Simpson69-66=135−72 Larry Mize69-67=136−6T3 Bob Gilder68-69=137−5 Curtis Strange70-67=137T5 Paul Azinger69-70=139−3 Fred Couples72-67=139 Nick Faldo72-67=139 Sandy Lyle68-71=139T9 Jay Haas73-67=140−2 D. A. Weibring71-69=140 Amateurs: Mayfair (+1), Tolles (+14), Duncan (+15), Rintoul (+16)

Source:

Third round Saturday, June 18, 1988 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Curtis Strange70-67-69=206−7T2 Nick Faldo72-67-68=207−6 Bob Gilder68-69-70=207 Scott Simpson69-66-72=207T5 Larry Mize69-67-72=208−5 D. A. Weibring71-69-68=2087 Mark O'Meara71-72-66=209−48 Fred Couples72-67-71=210−39 Lanny Wadkins70-71-70=211−210 Ken Green72-70-70=212−1 Source:

Final round Sunday, June 19, 1988 ChampionSilver Cup winner (leading amateur)(a) = amateur(c) = past champion

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

Amateur: Billy Mayfair (+3)

Scorecard Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718Par434444345 444454344 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+1E−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+1E+1E−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+1E−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+1EEEEE+1+1E−1EE−1−1 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogey Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par Source:

Playoff Monday, June 20, 1988 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (US$)1 Curtis Strange 34-37=71 E 180,0002 Nick Faldo 35-40=75 +4 90,000

Scorecard Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718Par434444345 444454344 StrangeEEE+1EE−1−1−1−1−1E−1−1EEEE FaldoEE+1+1+1+1EEEE+1+1+2+1+2+2+3+4 Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |} Source:

References

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