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Life imitating Tin Cup - Jean van de Velde 1999 British Open, final hole

posted 12 years ago by !!!deleted!!! (40461903)
3 replies | jump to latest

Most golfing fans have probably heard of THIS one already, but for those of you who haven't...

The unheralded Jean van de Velde is playing a GREAT final round and is about to win his first golf Major. He needs only a double bogey on the 18th to win. His previous scores over the weekend were something like par, par, birdie. His name is already in the process of being engraved on the trophy.

And then THIS happens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWqr-NAfGro

He goes on to lose the playoff. Admittedly, this footage doesn't include the playoff, but I guess it doesn't need to. You can tell he's no longer the same man after sinking that long putt for triple-bogey. It's absolutely no surprise at all that he lost.

[–] junmengo 12 years ago

now Sergio Garcia in the players

[–] kmay144 9 years ago

Don't forget Phil Mickelson during the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot (and I actually witnessed this in person with my dad and brother). He went into the 18th on the final day with a 1-stroke lead, and it would have been his first US Open win.

He chose to hit a driver off the tee, and it went well left, bouncing off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than 50 yards.

He ended up double-bogeying the hole, and missed out on the win, and since then has still not won the US Open. I'll never forget him saying "I'm such an idiot. Can't believe I did that."

[–] KDinCT 8 years ago

Poor comparison. Van de Valde made poor decisions but he wasn't trying to do something that was beyond his game. He just lost control and collapsed.

Try John Daly at Bay Hill in '98. Six shots into the water trying to reach the green in two, finally got it on his seventh try. Daly hit multiple balls into the water on the same hole several times in his career.