Revisiting Jean Van De Velde’s Exasperating Loss At Carnoustie
French pro golfer Jean Van de Velde possesses maybe the craziest collapse on the final hole in a major. Holding a 3-stroke lead heading to the 18th hole at Carnoustie GC at the 1999 Open Championship he inexplicably tripled the hole leading a 3-man playoff (Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard) ultimately won by Lawrie who started the day 10-strokes back).
Tonight, GolfChannel airs the documentary “Go Down Swinging” at 8p CDT. GolfWeek’s media writer Martin Kaufmann has the review of golf’s version of a NASCAR wreck on the final lap.
When Jack Graham began producing ABC’s coverage of the British Open in 1997, one of his goals was to frontload his commercial breaks so that the larger audience tuning in during the final hour would see more action and fewer ads.
That plan worked perfectly at the 1999 Open. When the final twosome – Jean Van de Velde and Craig Parry – reached the 18th tee, ABC had only one more commercial break remaining. The only problem was that the tournament had been a dud – a 71-hole slog across a famously difficult course, seemingly leading to victory for a little-known professional from France.
“Then we had the craziest hour I’ve ever experienced in any sport,” said Graham, now Golf Channel’s vice president-golf events. “It just got progressively nuttier. … I’m sure I’ve (produced) football games that had a last-minute interception, but nothing that went on for 45 to 50 minutes like this.”
That slow-motion series of mistakes and mishaps is what made Van de Velde’s collapse so memorable. “It’s Buckner if you’re a Sox fan, Bartman if you’re a Cubs fan,” a bartender tells his clueless customer in the new Golf Channel documentary of the 1999 Open, “Go Down Swinging,” which airs July 9 at 9 p.m.
But Buckner and Bartman were shocking because they were so sudden; we remember Van de Velde’s collapse more like a full-length movie filled with dramatic plot twists. He arrived at the 18th tee with a three-shot lead and ABC’s Bob Rosburg he’s “gotta play an iron. The only thing that can get him in any trouble is if he drives it in the burn.” To which ABC’s Curtis Strange replied, “Rossie, just as you said that, the driver headcover came off.”
At one point, Graham recalled in a recent interview with Golfweek, hole announcer Ian Baker-Finch hit talkback, which allowed him to speak directly to the production truck, and said, “‘This is making me physically ill.’ I thought, ‘My God, it really does hit a player.’”
When the clock approached the top of the hour, Graham’s associate director reminded him of the need to give local affiliates a station break.
“I can distinctly remember saying, ‘If some guy in Kansas City really wants to take his viewers away, he can do it, but I’m not helping him,’” Graham said.
One suspects that ABC anchor Mike Tirico captured the mood of most fans watching the event. With Van de Velde facing a 7-foot putt just to make a playoff, Tirico said, “You root against no one, you root for no one,” Tirico said at the time. “But you’ve gotta hope that this goes in.”
I recommend giving it a watch while covering your eyes tonight.
