2008 Open Championship
The 2008 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 137th Open Championship, played from 17–20 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Pádraig Harrington successfully defended his Open Championship title, his second; he shot four under par over the final nine holes and was four strokes ahead of runner-up Ian Poulter. Harrington was the last golfer to win the same major back-to-back for a decade until Brooks Koepka won consecutive U.S. Opens in 2017 and 2018.
Television coverage was provided as usual by the BBC in the UK, and by ABC and TNT in the United States.
Field
was the most notable absentee, as he was recovering from knee surgery following his victory at the U.S. Open.About two-thirds of the field each year consists of players that are fully exempt from qualifying for the Open. Below is the list of the exemption categories and the players who are exempt. Each player is classified according to the first category by which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses. Some categories are not shown as all players in that category had already qualified from an earlier category:
1. First 10 and anyone tying for 10th place in the 2007 Open Championship
K. J. Choi, Stewart Cink, Ben Curtis, Ernie Els, Sergio García, Richard Green, Pádraig Harrington, Hunter Mahan, Andrés Romero, Steve Stricker, Mike Weir
2. Past Open Champions born between 20 July 1942 and 19 July 1948
3. Past Open Champions aged 60 or under on 20 July 2008
Mark Calcavecchia, John Daly, David Duval, Todd Hamilton, Paul Lawrie, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard, Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara, Tom Watson
4. The Open Champions for 1998-2007
5. First 20 in the PGA European Tour Final Order of Merit for 2007
Ángel Cabrera, Paul Casey, Nick Dougherty, Niclas Fasth, Retief Goosen, Anders Hansen, Søren Hansen, Peter Hanson, Grégory Havret, Søren Kjeldsen, Colin Montgomerie, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Richard Sterne, Graeme Storm, Lee Westwood
6. The BMW PGA Championship winners for 2006-2008
David Howell, Miguel Ángel Jiménez
7. The first 50 players on the Official World Golf Rankings for Week 21, 2008
Robert Allenby, Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby, Woody Austin, Aaron Baddeley, Tim Clark, Jim Furyk, J. B. Holmes, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Robert Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy, Sean O'Hair, Rod Pampling, Ian Poulter, Jeff Quinney, Rory Sabbatini, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Brandt Snedeker, Scott Verplank, Boo Weekley, Oliver Wilson
8. First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied above, in the top 20 of the 2008 PGA European Tour Order of Merit on completion of the 2008 BMW PGA Championship
Richard Finch, Graeme McDowell, Damien McGrane
9. First 2 European Tour members and any European Tour members tying for 2nd place, not exempt, in a cumulative money list taken from all official PGA European Tour events from OWGR Week 19 up to and including the Open de France and including the U.S. Open
Pablo Larrazábal, Scott Strange
10. The leading player, not exempt having applied above, in the first 5 and ties of each of the 2008 European Open and the 2008 Barclays Scottish Open.
David Frost, Simon Khan
11. The U.S. Open Champions for 2004-2008
Michael Campbell
12. The U.S. Masters Champions for 2004-2008
13. The U.S. PGA Champions for 2003-2007
14. The U.S. PGA Tour Players Champions for 2006-2008
15. Top 20 on the Official Money List of the 2007 PGA Tour
Charles Howell III
16. First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied above, in the top 20 of the Official Money List of the 2008 PGA Tour on completion of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
Bart Bryant, Ryuji Imada
17. First 2 PGA Tour members and any PGA Tour members tying for 2nd place, not exempt, in a cumulative money list taken from The Players Championship and the five PGA Tour events leading up to and including the 2008 AT&T National
Rocco Mediate
18. The leading player, not exempt having applied above, in the first 5 and ties of each of the 2008 AT&T National and the 2008 John Deere Classic
Fredrik Jacobson, Jay Williamson
19. Playing members of the 2007 Presidents Cup teams
Lucas Glover, Nick O'Hern
20. First place on the 2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit
Liang Wenchong
21. First 2 on the Order of Merit of the PGA Tour of Australasia for 2007
Craig Parry, David Smail
22. First place on the Order of Merit of the Southern Africa Sunshine Tour for 2007
James Kingston
23. The RBC Canadian Open Champion for 2007
24. The Japan Open Champion for 2007
25. First 2 on the Official Money List of the Japan Golf Tour for 2007
Brendan Jones, Hideto Tanihara
26. The leading 4 players, not exempt, in the 2008 Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic
Michio Matsumura, Prayad Marksaeng, Yoshinobu Tsukada, Azuma Yano
27. First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, not exempt having applied above, in a cumulative money list taken from all official Japan Golf Tour events from the 2008 Japan PGA Championship up to and including the 2008 Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic
Hiroshi Iwata, Shintaro Kai
28. The Senior British Open Champion for 2007
29. The 2008 Amateur Champion
Reinier Saxton
30. The U.S. Amateur Champion for 2007
31. The European Individual Amateur Champion for 2007
Benjamin Hébert
International Final Qualifying
Local Final Qualifying
Alternates
- Camilo Villegas - took spot not taken by Kenny Perry
- Pat Perez - replaced Luke Donald
- Jerry Kelly - replaced David Toms
- Heath Slocum - replaced Toru Taniguchi
Nationalities in the field
Past champions in the field
Made the cut
Missed the cut
- Sandy Lyle withdrew after ten holes of the first round when he was 11-over par at the time.
- Tiger Woods was recuperating from knee surgery and did not compete.
Venue
Course layout
Source:Lengths of the course for previous Opens:
- 1998:, par 70
- 1991:, par 70
- 1983:, par 71
- 1976:, par 72
- 1971:, par 73
- 1965:, par 73
- 1961:, par 72
- 1954:
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, 17 July 2008| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| T1 | Robert Allenby | 69 | −1 | |
| T1 | Graeme McDowell | 69 | −1 | |
| T1 | Rocco Mediate | 69 | −1 | |
| T4 | Bart Bryant | 70 | E | |
| T4 | Greg Norman | 70 | E | |
| T4 | Adam Scott | 70 | E | |
| T7 | Jim Furyk | 71 | +1 | |
| T7 | Retief Goosen | 71 | +1 | |
| T7 | Peter Hanson | 71 | +1 | |
| T7 | Grégory Havret | 71 | +1 | |
| T7 | Fredrik Jacobson | 71 | +1 | |
| T7 | Simon Wakefield | 71 | +1 | |
| T7 | Anthony Wall | 71 | +1 | |
| T7 | Mike Weir | 71 | +1 |
Second round
Friday, 18 July 2008The cut was at 149 and 83 advanced, including Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, who played in the terrible morning conditions in the first round.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | K. J. Choi | 72-67=139 | −1 | |
| 2 | Greg Norman | 70-70=140 | E | |
| 3 | Camilo Villegas | 76-65=141 | +1 | |
| T4 | Robert Allenby | 69-73=142 | +2 | |
| T4 | David Duval | 73-69=142 | +2 | |
| T4 | Jim Furyk | 71-71=142 | +2 | |
| T4 | Pádraig Harrington | 74-68=142 | +2 | |
| T4 | Graeme McDowell | 69-73=142 | +2 | |
| T4 | Rocco Mediate | 69-73=142 | +2 | |
| T4 | Alexander Norén | 72-70=142 | +2 |
Amateurs: Wood, Sherreard , Hébert, Blizard, Saxton.
Third round
Saturday, 19 July 2008Greg Norman, age 53, became the oldest to hold at least a share of the 54-hole lead. Due to extremely high winds, there were no under-par rounds, and it was first time since 1986 when the 54-hole leader was not under par.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Greg Norman | 70-70-72=212 | +2 | |
| T2 | K. J. Choi | 72-67-75=214 | +4 | |
| T2 | Pádraig Harrington | 74-68-72=214 | +4 | |
| 4 | Simon Wakefield | 71-74-70=215 | +5 | |
| T5 | Ben Curtis | 78-69-70=217 | +7 | |
| T5 | Ross Fisher | 72-74-71=217 | +7 | |
| T5 | Anthony Kim | 72-74-71=217 | +7 | |
| T5 | Alexander Norén | 72-70-75=217 | +7 | |
| T9 | Robert Allenby | 69-73-76=218 | +8 | |
| T9 | Rocco Mediate | 69-73-76=218 | +8 | |
| T9 | Ian Poulter | 72-71-75=218 | +8 | |
| T9 | Henrik Stenson | 76-72-70=218 | +8 | |
| T9 | Graeme Storm | 76-70-72=218 | +8 | |
| T9 | Chris Wood | 75-70-73=218 | +8 |
Final round
Sunday, 20 July 2008Despite a wrist injury that almost forced him to withdraw prior to the tournament, Pádraig Harrington successfully defended his Open Championship title. Harrington pulled away from the field with a tremendous back nine and became only the fifth to repeat at the Open in the last fifty years. Runner-up Ian Poulter matched Harrington's 69 and was four strokes back, while Greg Norman faltered with eight bogeys for 77 and tied for third place with Henrik Stenson.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money |
| 1 | Pádraig Harrington | 74-68-72-69=283 | +3 | 750,000 | |
| 2 | Ian Poulter | 72-71-75-69=287 | +7 | 450,000 | |
| T3 | Greg Norman | 70-70-72-77=289 | +9 | 255,000 | |
| T3 | Henrik Stenson | 76-72-70-71=289 | +9 | 255,000 | |
| T5 | Jim Furyk | 71-71-77-71=290 | +10 | 180,000 | |
| T5 | Chris Wood | 75-70-73-72=290 | +10 | 0 | |
| T7 | Robert Allenby | 69-73-76-74=292 | +12 | 96,450 | |
| T7 | Stephen Ames | 73-70-78-71=292 | +12 | 96,450 | |
| T7 | Paul Casey | 78-71-73-70=292 | +12 | 96,450 | |
| T7 | Ben Curtis | 78-69-70-75=292 | +12 | 96,450 | |
| T7 | Ernie Els | 80-69-74-69=292 | +12 | 96,450 | |
| T7 | David Howell | 76-71-78-67=292 | +12 | 96,450 | |
| T7 | Robert Karlsson | 75-73-75-69=292 | +12 | 96,450 | |
| T7 | Anthony Kim | 72-74-71-75=292 | +12 | 96,450 | |
| T7 | Steve Stricker | 77-71-71-73=292 | +12 | 96,450 |
Source:
Amateurs: Wood, Sherreard.
- denotes amateur
Scorecard
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
 Harrington | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +6 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +3 | +3 |
 Poulter | +9 | +9 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +9 | +9 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +7 | +7 | +7 |
 Norman | +3 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +7 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +9 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +9 |
 Stenson | +9 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +10 | +9 | +9 | +8 | +9 |
 Furyk | +10 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 |
| Wood | +8 | +8 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +8 | +8 | +7 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +9 | +10 |
 Choi | +5 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +10 | +9 | +13 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
| Eagle | Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey | Triple bogey+ |
Source: