1999 Open Championship
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 - 18 July 1999 |
| Location |  Angus, Scotland |
| Course(s) | Carnoustie Golf Links |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour PGA European Tour Japan Golf Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 7,361 |
| Field | 152 players, 73 after cut |
| Cut | 154 (+12) |
| Prize fund | £2,000,000 $3,058,503 |
| Winner's share | £350,000 $577,500 |
| Champion | |
| Paul Lawrie | |
| 290 (+6), playoff | |
The 1999 Open Championship was the 128th Open Championship held from 15-18 July at the Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. Paul Lawrie won his first major championship in a playoff over Jean van de Velde and Justin Leonard. Lawrie, down by 10 strokes at the start of the fourth round, completed the biggest comeback in Open Championship history. The event was headlined by van de Velde's triple-bogey at the last hole.
Contents |
[edit] The collapse
Van de Velde, who was in control through the latter half of the championship, held a seemingly insurmountable three-stroke lead going into the 72nd hole. He teed off with a driver, which was heavily criticized by the ABC broadcast team, and pushed his shot into the right rough of the 17th hole. He later claimed that he thought the lead was only two strokes, which is why he chose not to go with a safe club, such as an iron. His second shot was hit into an area of knee deep rough after his ball bounced backward 50 yards off the grandstand then off of a rock in the Barry Burn. Had the ball stayed in the grandstand he would have been able to drop without penalty. Then the thick Carnoustie grass stifled him again, as his third shot went into the burn in front of the green. Van de Velde took his shoes and socks off, entered the burn in an attempt to play the ball from the water. Moments later he decided to take a drop, at which point he hit his ball into one of the deep greenside bunkers. He pitched out safely and buried an eight footer for a triple-bogey. This forced the three-man playoff, which he eventually lost.[1]
As nowadays, this hole is still widely considered[by whom?] to be the worst "choke" in golfing history, and some have even used the term "pulling a van de Velde" to describe similar events.[2]
Neither van de Velde nor Lawrie has been in contention during the final round of a major since.
[edit] Round summaries
[edit] First round
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rod Pampling |  Australia |
71 | E |
| T2 | Scott Dunlap |  United States |
72 | +1 |
| Bernhard Langer |  Germany |
|||
| T4 | Dudley Hart | United States |
73 | +2 |
| Paul Lawrie | Scotland |
|||
| Justin Leonard | United States |
|||
| Mark McNulty |  Zimbabwe |
|||
| Len Mattiace | United States |
|||
| Steve Pate | United States |
|||
| Hal Sutton | United States |
[edit] Second round
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean van de Velde |  France |
75-68=143 | +1 |
| 2 | Ángel Cabrera |  Argentina |
75-69=144 | +2 |
| 3 | Jesper Parnevik |  Sweden |
74-71=145 | +3 |
| T4 | Greg Norman | Australia |
76-70=146 | +4 |
| Patrik Sjöland | Sweden |
74-72=146 | ||
| Tiger Woods | United States |
74-72=146 | ||
| T7 | Bradley Hughes | Australia |
76-71=147 | +5 |
| Paul Lawrie | Scotland |
73-74=147 | ||
| Justin Leonard | United States |
73-74=147 | ||
| Len Mattiace | United States |
73-74=147 | ||
| Brian Watts | United States |
74-73=147 |
Amateurs: Donald (+14), Gribben (+18), Storm (+19), Scotland (+21).
[edit] Third round
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean van de Velde | France |
75-68-70=213 | E |
| T2 | Justin Leonard | United States |
73-74-71=218 | +5 |
| Craig Parry | Australia |
76-75-67=218 | ||
| T4 | Andrew Coltart | Scotland |
74-74-72=220 | +7 |
| David Frost |  South Africa |
80-69-71=220 | ||
| Tiger Woods | United States |
74-72-74=220 | ||
| T7 | Ángel Cabrera | Argentina |
68-71-76=221 | +8 |
| Greg Norman | Australia |
76-70-75=221 | ||
| T9 | Bernhard Langer | Germany |
72-77-73=222 | +9 |
| Miguel Ángel Martín |  Spain |
74-76-72=222 | ||
| Len Mattiace | United States |
73-74-75=222 | ||
| Colin Montgomerie | Scotland |
74-76-72=222 | ||
| Frank Nobilo |  New Zealand |
76-76-70=222 |
[edit] Final leaderboard
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Lawrie* | Scotland |
73-74-76-67=290 | +6 | £350,000 |
| T2 | Justin Leonard | United States |
73-74-71-72=290 | £185,000 | |
| Jean van de Velde | France |
75-68-70-77=290 | |||
| T4 | Ángel Cabrera | Argentina |
75-69-77-70=291 | +7 | £100,000 |
| Craig Parry | Australia |
76-75-67-73=291 | |||
| 6 | Greg Norman | Australia |
76-70-75-72=293 | +9 | £70,000 |
| T7 | David Frost | South Africa |
80-69-71-74=294 | +10 | £50,000 |
| Tiger Woods | United States |
74-72-74-74=294 | |||
| Davis Love III | United States |
74-74-77-69=294 | |||
| T10 | Hal Sutton | United States |
73-78-72-72=295 | +11 | £34,800 |
| Scott Dunlap | United States |
72-77-76-70=295 | |||
| Jim Furyk | United States |
78-71-76-70=295 | |||
| Retief Goosen | South Africa |
76-75-73-71=295 | |||
| Jesper Parnevik | Sweden |
74-71-78-72=295 |
*Lawrie (5-4-3-3=15) defeated Leonard (5-4-4-5=18) and van de Velde (6-4-3-5=18) in a four-hole playoff.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Preceded by 1999 U.S. Open |
Major Championships | Succeeded by 1999 PGA Championship |
|
|||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
