The 1998 British Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that was held from 2–12 April 1998 at the Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth, England.

John Higgins won the tournament by defeating Stephen Hendry nine frames to eight in the final. The defending champion, Mark Williams, was defeated by Higgins in the semi-final.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

Winner: £60,000 Final: £32,000 Semi-final: £16,000 Quarter-final: £9,100 Last 16: £4,550 Last 32: £2,600Last 64: £2,100 Last 96: £1,200 Stage one highest break: £1,000 Stage two highest break: £5,000 Total: £350,000

Main draw

Last 64 Best of 9 framesLast 32 Best of 9 framesLast 16 Best of 9 framesQuarter-finals Best of 9 framesSemi-finals Best of 11 framesFinal Best of 17 frames
Wales Mark Williams5
England David Gray2
Wales Mark Williams5
Northern Ireland Joe Swail1
Northern Ireland Joe Swail5
England Willie Thorne0
Wales Mark Williams5
England Gary Wilkinson4
England Anthony Hamilton5
England Mark Davis2
England Anthony Hamilton2
England Gary Wilkinson5
England Gary Wilkinson5
Scotland Graeme Dott0
Wales Mark Williams5
England Ronnie O'Sullivan4
England Stephen Lee5
Scotland Craig MacGillivray1
England Stephen Lee5
Wales Paul Davies3
Northern Ireland Terry Murphy1
Wales Paul Davies5
England Stephen Lee1
England Ronnie O'Sullivan5
England Ronnie O'Sullivan5
England Bradley Jones1
England Ronnie O'Sullivan5
England Brian Morgan4
England Brian Morgan5
Wales Mark Bennett3
Wales Mark Williams4
Scotland John Higgins6
England Nigel Bond3
Wales Matthew Stevens5
Wales Matthew Stevens4
England Mark King5
England Mark King5
Wales Lee Walker4
England Mark King2
England Gary Ponting5
Wales Darren Morgan2
England John Read5
England John Read4
England Gary Ponting5
Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien3
England Gary Ponting5
England Gary Ponting4
Scotland John Higgins5
England Steve Davis5
Pakistan Shokat Ali3
England Steve Davis5
England Mick Price2
England Mick Price5
England Dean Reynolds4
England Steve Davis1
Scotland John Higgins5
Scotland John Higgins5
Northern Ireland Jason Prince0
Scotland John Higgins5
England Martin Clark1
England Martin Clark5
Republic of Ireland Michael Judge4
Scotland John Higgins9
Scotland Stephen Hendry8
Scotland Stephen Hendry5
England Dave Finbow0
Scotland Stephen Hendry5
England Andy Hicks0
England Andy Hicks5
England Matthew Couch4
Scotland Stephen Hendry5
England Dave Harold3
Scotland Alan McManus5
England Nick Pearce3
Scotland Alan McManus4
England Dave Harold5
England Dave Harold5
Scotland Jamie Burnett3
Scotland Stephen Hendry5
England John Parrott1
Thailand James Wattana5
England Stefan Mazrocis1
Thailand James Wattana4
England Rod Lawler5
England Rod Lawler5
England Nick Walker1
England Rod Lawler0
England John Parrott5
England John Parrott5
England Joe Perry3
England John Parrott5
Scotland Chris Small4
Scotland Chris Small5
Scotland Drew Henry3
Scotland Stephen Hendry6
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty4
England Peter Ebdon4
Wales Dominic Dale5
Wales Dominic Dale5
England Mark Gray3
England Jimmy White4
England Mark Gray5
Wales Dominic Dale4
England Neal Foulds5
Malta Tony Drago5
England Chris Scanlon4
Malta Tony Drago4
England Neal Foulds5
England Neal Foulds5
Wales Anthony Davies2
England Neal Foulds1
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty5
Canada Alain Robidoux3
England Karl Burrows5
England Karl Burrows5
England Joe Johnson2
England Steve James2
England Joe Johnson5
England Karl Burrows0
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty5
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty5
New Zealand Dene O'Kane0
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty5
Scotland Billy Snaddon1
Scotland Billy Snaddon5
England Peter McCullagh4

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Alan Chamberlain Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth, England. 12 April 1998.
John Higgins Scotland9–8Stephen Hendry Scotland
Afternoon: 1–91, 19–64 (51), 68–29 (68), 61–63 (Higgins 61), 70–1 (63), 63–48, 22–79 (79), 52–7 Evening: 0–99 (99), 87–0 (51), 64–73, 128–0 (61), 67–69 (Higgins 59), 104–1 (72), 1–84 (58), 109–14 (102), 85–0 (85)
102Highest break99
1Century breaks0
850+ breaks5