The Open Championship is one of the most historic tournaments in sport, with the event founded in 1860. Originally, it was held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland, before being staged at some of the best golf courses the British Isles has to offer.
Not only does it bring the world’s best together, but The Open has also created some of the most memorable moments in golf. Some are positive but a lot of them involve players trying to hold on coming down the stretch, something which, understandably, is hard to do. So, bearing this in mind, we have taken a look at the five worst Open chokes…
Jean Van de Velde, Carnoustie, 1999
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Standing on the final tee, journeyman French golfer, Jean van de Velde, led The Open Championship of 1999 by three shots. What followed was the worst Open golf choke ever. “Here was a man who had a golf tournament won,” reflected Jack Nicklaus “and mentally and strategically played a hole so badly that it cost him the golf tournament.”
Van de Velde had won only once before on Tour – Roma Masters in 1993. This was one of the less prestigious events on Tour, with below-average prize money not drawing the best players and, consequently, it survived only two years as a European Tour event.
On the 487-yard par 4 of the 1999 Open at Carnoustie, Van de Velde took out his driver. Two of the three previous times he played this hole, he had made birdie; the other time it was par. Now, even a double bogey would see him home.
A wayward drive went over the burn on the right of the fairway, but found land. Rather than chip back on to the fairway and play to the green with his third shot, he went for the green with his 2-iron. This shot hit the greenside grandstand which, in itself would not normally have been a problem, as he would be given a free drop. However, the ball hit a rail on the grandstand and ricocheted back from it. That was bad break number one.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
From there, the ball rebounded onto the stone wall of the Barry Burn and then bounced up and 50 yards backwards into knee-deep rough – bad break number two. With a third shot hacked out of the rough, he dumped the ball into the…
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