Beware the Barry Burn Van de Velde’s breakdown on the 18th
IT was one of the great Open meltdowns. Leading by three on the 18th tee at Carnoustie, needing just a six at the par four to win the 1999 Open, all was about to go very wrong for Frenchman Jean van de Velde.
Mistake one was smashing a wayward drive. He then scythed his second shot into and out of the grandstand. His third shot found the Barry Burn – still well short of the green – and Van de Velde took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers and waded in to consider playing the shot.
After agonising for minutes, he took a penalty, chipped into a greenside bunker, hacked one out and then sank a six-footer for seven just to get into the playoff. Which, unsurprisingly given the madness that had just unfolded, he lost.