'Tough to go through' Leonard sad about losing but sadder for Frenchman Click here for more on this story Posted: Sunday July 18, 1999 06:10 PM   Leonard: "It was pretty much chaos. We were all pretty embarrassed." AP CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) -- It was probably the most dramatic finish ever to the British Open but playoff loser Justin Leonard didn't feel proud to be part of it. After Leonard and French upstart Jean Van de Velde lost in the playoff to Scottish qualifier Paul Lawrie, the American was in despair at missing the chance of collecting the title for the second time in three years. "Basically, I lost the British Open twice on one day which is twice as hard to take," said Leonard, who triumphed at Troon in 1997. Van de Velde gave both his rivals a second chance after he squandered a three-stroke lead going to the 72nd hole. His wayward strokes bounced off a grandstand filled with spectators, landed in a burn and then a bunker and he made a triple bogey seven, which was something Leonard, already in the clubhouse on 72, hadn't reckoned with. "At the 18th I felt I needed to make birdie," he said. "I hit a 3-wood off the tee, got a little bit left in the rough. I think I had 229 to the front edge of the green which meant 216 to carry the burn. I tried to hit a 3-wood, it didn't come the way I hoped and it ended up trickling into the burn. "Got up and down for a bogey. At the time I didn't think it mattered a whole lot." If Leonard had made par he would have won the title. After the bogey, he was convinced he had lost. But Van de Velde's comical capers at the last meant the American had to come back for a playoff. "During the playoff I made a couple of putts but really the tee shot I made at 15 was terrible," he said. So were those of his two rivals as they sent fans running in all directions in the pouring ran. "It was pretty much chaos. We were all pretty embarrassed," he said. "To get it up and down for a bogey and up and down for a bogey at 16 and I still found myself in it. "I had a good putt at 17 from 40-50 feet which could easily have gone in and then at 18 I hit a great tee shot and had a little bit of an uphill lie. "I got a little bit behind it, hit is a hair fat just enough to not get it over the burn." Lawrie, already one ahead after a birdie three at the third playoff hole, landed his second shot four feet from the flag and it was all over. Leonard felt bad about losing but not as bad as the Frenchman, who had started the day five ahead of the field, had gone to the 72nd three up and still lost. "I thought I had lost [after 72 holes] but I knew I had to stick around and went to one of the little trailers behind the scorers' tent," Leonard said. "The first thing I saw was Jean hitting the ball into the creek. "As I bad as I feel, he feels worse. That's tough to go through to have a lead in the championship at the last hole and not be able to win. It has to be a sick feeling for him and through the playoff as well. "There's not a whole lot you can learn from that other than he got himself in a position to win the tournament."   Related information Stories Leaders' Scorecard Scot wins British Open in four-hole playoff French Farce: Van de Velde shoots 7 on the final hole Van de Velde shrugs off 18th hole disaster Multimedia Click here for the latest audio and video Search our site Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV. Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.