Jean’s sinking feeling...
IT was one of the great Open meltdowns. Leading by three strokes standing on the 18th tee at Carnoustie, needing just a six at the 499-yard par four to win the 1999 Open, Frenchman Jean van de Velde was about to go down in comicbook history.
Mistake one was taking a driver off the tee. He didn’t need to go for the green in two so could have taken an iron for position, but instead smashed a wayward drive — onto the 17th.
Even then he didn’t need to go for the green yet pulled out a two-iron and then scythed his second shot into and out of the grandstand.
His third shot, from thick rough, found the Barry Burn — still well short of the green — and fans then looked on in disbelief as Van de Velde took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers and waded into the stream to consider playing the shot.
After agonising for minutes, the Frenchman eventually decided against, took a penalty, chipped into a greenside bunker, hacked one out and then sank a six-footer for seven just to get into the play-off.
Which, unsurprisingly given the madness that had just unfolded, he lost. ‘It’s sad, it’s very sad,’ said Van de Velde. ‘Can I go back and play it again? That’d be nice.’