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Fried Frenchman Van de Velde shrugs off 18th hole disaster
Posted: Sunday July 18, 1999 06:13 PM
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (Reuters) -- Jean Van de Velde took defeat in stride on Sunday after tossing away a seemingly insurmountable lead in the British Open and losing out in the playoff to Briton Paul Lawrie. "It's a game. There are worse things in life," he said. The experts had been predicting Van de Velde's collapse since Friday afternoon but they had to wait until the 72nd hole to see it. And even the most doubtful of observers must have thought they had got it wrong when the Frenchman lined up on the 18th on Sunday knowing he could afford a double bogey and still win the British Open. Not since Greg Norman imploded on the last round to hand the 1997 Masters to Nick Faldo has golf witnessed such a stunning and painful collapse and only Doug Sanders' 12 inch miss on the final green in 1970 has come close to matching such last gasp failure. Van de Velde had made a birdie and two pars on his previous three visits to the 18th and trusted his instincts with driver from the tee. Where it all started to go wrong was on the second shot from way out right when, encouraged by a great lie, he tried to make the green with a two iron instead of taking the safe option of laying up short. From then on it became a comedy of errors as the ball bounced from the grandstand into an impossible lie in the rough. Van de Velde could only shunt it forward into the burn, and after taking off his shoes and socks and contemplating playing it from the water, decided to drop back into the rough. From there he went into the bunker but pitched out to within five feet and made the putt for a seven. But that joyride around parts of the course some players never visit left him in a playoff that he could never have envisaged 20 minutes earlier. Van de Velde never regained his form over the four extra holes and had to watch Paul Lawrie take the title that everyone at Carnoustie must have believed was heading to France for only the second time. But he put an incredibly brave face on his blackest moment and backed his judgement on that fateful hole. "We're going to go through everything except 18, okay?" he said to waiting journalists, who had just seen a forlorn 1997 winner Justin Leonard almost in tears as he tried to come to terms with defeat. "There's no easy tee shot on 18 even if you are three ahead," Van de Velde said. "I drove down the right, really down the right. I missed the creek but the ball was lying fantastic. "I could have taken the wedge and tried to lay-up but the ball was lying so good I took my two iron. I kept my composure. I didn't need to go for glory, but that wasn't glory it was a makeable shot." After failing to make it, Van de Velde said he fully intended to play his fourth from the water as most of the ball was visible. But after taking his shoes and socks off and wading in he said it started to sink and he changed his mind. "So I took a drop and dropped it back in the shite. What are you going to do? I could barely move it and I found the trap -- I made a good up and down though." But he added: "Can I go out and play it again? I think I played it well enough. Maybe I wasn't humble enough." His problems continued at the first play off hole where he lashed his drive deep into the gorse and, after an interminable delay while he was given a ruling, he eventually hacked his way up for a double bogey. The dream was over but the Frenchman, whose delightful attitude has won him a legion of admirers here, refused to be downhearted. "Yes, it's devastating -- a lot," he said. "But it's a golf tournament, it's a game. There are worse things in life. We all read the newspapers and terrible things happen to people. "I'll be back next year and next time I'll hit a wedge and maybe you will all forgive me."
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