A clown on the course
I can’t believe that eight years have already passed since the
greatest choke in the history of golf took place. As the British
Open unfolds this week at the Carnoustie Golf Club in Carnoustie,
Scotland, there will be a lot of reflection on the forever infamous
choke that Frenchman Jean Van de Velde made there on the 72nd hole
in 1999.
A clown on the course
I can’t believe that eight years have already passed since the greatest choke in the history of golf took place. As the British Open unfolds this week at the Carnoustie Golf Club in Carnoustie, Scotland, there will be a lot of reflection on the forever infamous choke that Frenchman Jean Van de Velde made there on the 72nd hole in 1999.
In fact, it doesn’t matter who wins this week the most etched memory at Carnoustie from here to eternity will forever be Van de Velde’s collapse at the challenging 444-yard 18th hole.
Sure, a victory this week by Tiger Woods to take the title for the third year in a row would do a lot to ease the memory of Van de Velde, but it still won’t overshadow that notorious faux pas, pardon my French, on that Sunday afternoon in 1999.
As a kid, I remember thinking that the name Carnoustie sounded a lot like carnival the first time I heard it. I think that was back in 1975 the year Tom “Terrific” Watson took center stage.
In 1999, however, it was Van de Velde who took center stage. Only instead of closing the deal, he transformed himself into the head clown at the center stage of a three-ring circus.
I’ll never forget it. As Van de Velde stepped onto the 18th tee box in the final round, the tournament was his. He had played like a worthy champion all week. Having a three-shot lead, he looked poised to capture the coveted Claret jug. A double-bogey six would win him the tournament. But instead of making a routine par, bogey or even a white-knuckle double bogey, Van de Velde took a triple-bogey seven (thanks to an awesome putt) and then lost in a three-man playoff to hometown hero Paul Lawrie.
For those of you who don’t remember, this is how the greatest choke in golf unfolded. Van de Velde got the choke rolling with his decision to break out the driver, one of the narrowest closing holes in championship golf. That was mistake No. 1, especially since the hole, at 444 yards, wasn’t that long for a professional player. Hitting the driver not only magnified his chance to miss the fairway but it also brought water into play, which lurked on the right side of the hole.
And sure enough, Van de Velde hit the shot poorly. So poorly in fact that he missed the fairway so far to the right that he actually had a clear second shot. Time to take a deep breath, relax and play the second shot. Only instead of regrouping and firing at the green, Van de Velde hits a worse shot than he hit off the tee. The shot sails so far to the right of the green that it ricocheted off of the neighboring bleachers, and into the thick, almost-unplayable rough.
From there, he chunks his third shot into the watery berm, and c’est la vie, the tournament started slipping away. His forth shot find the greenside bunker, the next landed on the green some 30 feet from the hole, and then he was eventually forced to hit a curling 10-footer to force a playoff. Somehow he sank the shot. It’s interesting – the guy is probably more known for blowing the tournament today than if he had won it by 10 strokes.
Jean Van de Velde walked to the 72nd tee that summer day with a three-shot lead. He probably could have hit four wedges and won the tournament by two. But instead, he wound up etching his name on the all-time major championship faux pas.
Yes, many golfers have choked over the years. I can think of Hale Irwin whiffing one year on a one-inch tap-in putt at the British Open in fierce winds. I remember Scott Hoch missing a 2-foot putt on the last hole at the Masters that cost him the title. I remember Tom Kite choking in a few U.S. Opens and Greg Norman blowing a six-shot 54-hole lead at the Masters in 1996.
Yet with all of the competition he has, somehow Van de Velde’s implosion takes the top (carnival) prize.
