1999 Open Championship

1999 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates 15–18 July 1999
Location Angus, Scotland
Course(s) Carnoustie Golf Links
Championship Course
Organized by The R&A
Tour(s) PGA Tour
European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par 71[1]
Length 7,361 yards (6,731 m)[1]
Field 156 players, 73 after cut[1]
Cut 154 (+12)[1]
Prize fund £2,000,000
2,850,260
$3,058,500
Winner's share £350,000
€490,000
$577,500
Champion
Scotland Paul Lawrie
290 (+6), playoff
«1998
2000»
Carnoustie
Location in Scotland

The 1999 Open Championship was the 128th Open Championship, held 15–18 July at the Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland.

Paul Lawrie won his only major championship in a playoff over Jean van de Velde and Justin Leonard.[2] Lawrie, down by ten strokes at the start of the fourth round,[3] completed the biggest final round comeback in major championship history,[4][5] headlined by van de Velde's triple-bogey at the last hole.[6]

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.[7] 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 landed in an area of knee-deep rough after his ball bounced backward 50 yards off the grandstand and 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 and entered the burn, considering an attempt to play the ball from the water. He decided against it and instead took a drop (fourth stroke), at which point he hit his fifth shot into one of the deep greenside bunkers. He pitched out safely and buried an eight footer on his seventh shot for a triple-bogey. This forced the three-man playoff, which he eventually lost.[8][9]

Due to the three-stroke lead van de Velde had going into the final hole, his name had already been engraved into the Claret Jug. Following his collapse, the engraver had to scratch through van de Velde's name and then engrave Paul Lawrie's name into it. Beginning with the 2000 Open, the winning golfer's name is no longer engraved into the Claret Jug until after his scorecard is verified by tournament officials and signed by said winning golfer. Van de Velde's play on this hole is still widely considered[9] to be the worst "choke" in golfing history, and some have even used the term "pulling a van de Velde" to describe similar events.[10]

Course layout

Carnoustie Golf Links - Championship Course[11]

HoleNameYardsPar HoleNameYardsPar
1Cup4074 10South America4664
2Gulley462411Dyke3834
3Jockie's Burn342412Southward Ho4794
4Hillocks412413Whins1693
5Brae411414Spectacles5155
6Hogan's Alley578515Lucky Slap4724
7Plantation412416Barry Burn2503
8Short183317Island4594
9Railway474418Home4874
Out3,68136In3,68035
Total7,36171

Lengths of the course for previous Opens (since 1950):[1]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Justin Leonard  United States 1997 73 74 71 72 290 +6 T2
Greg Norman  Australia 1986, 1993 76 70 75 72 293 +9 6
Nick Price  Zimbabwe 1994 77 77 73 71 301 +17 T37

Missed the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Tom Watson  United States 1975, 1977,
1980, 1982, 1983
82 73 155 +13
Tom Lehman  United States 1996 76 80 156 +14
Nick Faldo  England 1987, 1990, 1992 78 79 157 +15
Mark O'Meara  United States 1998 83 74 157 +15
Mark Calcavecchia  United States 1989 78 81 159 +17
Bob Charles  New Zealand 1963 83 81 164 +22
Gary Player  South Africa 1959, 1968, 1974 81 83 164 +22
Seve Ballesteros  Spain 1979, 1984, 1988 80 86 166 +24
Sandy Lyle  Scotland 1985 85 81 166 +24
Tony Jacklin  England 1969 85 82 167 +25

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 15 July 1999

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Rod Pampling Australia71E
T2Scott Dunlap United States72+1
Bernhard Langer Germany
T4Dudley Hart United States73+2
Paul Lawrie Scotland
Justin Leonard United States
Mark McNulty Zimbabwe
Len Mattiace United States
Steve Pate United States
Hal Sutton United States

Second round

Friday, 16 July 1999

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jean van de Velde France75-68=143+1
2Ángel Cabrera Argentina75-69=144+2
3Jesper Parnevik Sweden74-71=145+3
T4 Greg Norman Australia76-70=146+4
Patrik Sjöland Sweden74-72=146
Tiger Woods United States74-72=146
T7Bradley Hughes Australia76-71=147+5
Paul Lawrie Scotland73-74=147
Justin Leonard United States73-74=147
Len Mattiace United States73-74=147
Brian Watts United States74-73=147

Amateurs: Donald (+14), Gribben (+18), Storm (+19), Scotland (+21).

Third round

Saturday, 17 July 1999

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jean van de Velde France75-68-70=213E
T2Justin Leonard United States73-74-71=218+5
Craig Parry Australia76-75-67=218
T4Andrew Coltart Scotland74-74-72=220+7
David Frost South Africa80-69-71=220
Tiger Woods United States74-72-74=220
T7Ángel Cabrera Argentina75-69-77=221+8
Greg Norman Australia76-70-75=221
T9Bernhard Langer Germany72-77-73=222 +9
Miguel Ángel Martín Spain74-76-72=222
Len Mattiace United States73-74-75=222
Colin Montgomerie Scotland74-76-72=222
Frank Nobilo New Zealand76-76-70=222

Final round

Sunday, 18 July 1999

Paul Lawrie completed the biggest final round comeback in major championship and PGA Tour history by coming back from 10 strokes behind in the final round, and winning the subsequent three-man playoff.[2][3][6]

Jean van de Velde started the day with a five-stroke lead over Craig Parry and Justin Leonard, but trailed Parry by a stroke at the 12th hole, as Parry was –3 for the day through 11, while Van de Velde was +3. However, Parry could not escape the thick rough on the 12th hole on his way to a triple bogey while Van de Velde regained sole possession of the lead with a bogey. Parry then bogeyed 13, drove into the fairway bunker at 14 to deny himself a birdie chance, and missed a two-foot (0.6 m) putt on 17 en route to a double bogey. He holed a bunker shot on 18 to finish one stroke out of the playoff.

In the meantime, Leonard tied van de Velde for the lead with a birdie on 14, but made bogeys at 15 and 18 as his second shot landed in the barry burn as Van de Velde birdied 14 - leaving him three strokes behind, tied with Lawrie in the clubhouse at 6-over-par. Ángel Cabrera had a chance to join the clubhouse lead but lipped out a birdie putt on 18.

After the birdie on 14, Van de Velde missed the next three greens but got up-and-down each time to give himself a three stroke lead going into 18 where a triple bogey dropped him into a playoff.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney (£)
T1 Paul Lawrie  Scotland 73-74-76-67=290 +6 Playoff
Justin Leonard  United States 73-74-71-72=290
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

Source:[12][13][14]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par444445434 444354344
Scotland Lawrie +10+10+9+9+10+9+9+8+8+8+8+7+8+7+7+7+6+6
United States Leonard +5+5+5+5+5+4+4+4+4+5+5+5+5+4+5+5+5+6
France van de Velde EE+1+1+2+2+2+3+2+2+3+4+4+3+3+3+3+6
Argentina Cabrera +8+8+7+7+7+7+7+7+7+7+6+6+7+7+7+7+7+7
Australia Parry +5+5+4+4+4+4+4+3+3+2+2+5+6+6+6+6+8+7

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:[14]

Playoff

The four-hole playoff was played on the final four holes (#15-18), three par fours and one par three (#16). All three players hit poor drives on the first playoff hole, but Van de Velde was forced to take an unplayable and took double bogey to fall one stroke behind Lawrie and Leonard. All three players missed the green on the second playoff hole and took bogeys. On the third playoff hole, Van de Velde made birdie to briefly create a three-way tie, but Lawrie followed with a birdie of his own to take a one-stroke lead into the final playoff hole. On the final playoff hole, Van de Velde found the rough and Leonard found the water en route to bogeys while Lawrie hit a shot for the ages, a 4-iron to four feet for a clinching birdie and the championship.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney (£)
1 Paul Lawrie  Scotland 5-4-3-3=15 E350,000
T2 Justin Leonard  United States 5-4-4-5=18 +3 185,000
Jean van de Velde  France 6-4-3-5=18

Scorecard

Hole 15  16  17  18 
Par4344
Scotland Lawrie +1+2+1E
United States Leonard +1+2+2+3
France van de Velde +2+3+2+3

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
Source:[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 31, 203. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 Bonk, Thomas (19 July 1999). "Gift-wrapped Claret Jug to Lawrie". Eugene Register-Guard. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.
  3. 1 2 Shapiro, Leonard (19 July 1999). "Out of darkness, it's Lawrie". Spokesman-Review. (Washington Post). p. C1.
  4. Ferguson, Doug (19 July 1999). "A Scottish fairy tale". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. p. B1.
  5. Brown, Clifton (19 July 1999). "Van de Velde self-destructs, Lawrie wins". Toledo Blade. (New York Times). p. 23.
  6. 1 2 Garrity, John (26 July 1999). "Down the drain". Sports Illustrated.
  7. Logan, Joe (19 July 1999). "Great Scot! It's Lawrie". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. p. 1C.
  8. Dahlberg, Tim (19 July 1999). "Decisions cost Frenchman". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. p. 27.
  9. 1 2 "Lawrie wins dramatic Open". BBC News. 19 July 1999. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  10. "Romero pulls a Van de Velde one hole early". NBC Sports. 22 July 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  11. "128th Open Championship: course map". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. 15 July 1999. p. 32.
  12. "1999 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  13. "Results: British Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 19 July 1999. p. B-3.
  14. 1 2 3 "Anatomy of the final round". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 19 July 1999. p. 3C.

External links

Preceded by
1999 U.S. Open
Major Championships Succeeded by
1999 PGA Championship

Coordinates: 56°29′49″N 2°43′01″W / 56.497°N 2.717°W / 56.497; -2.717

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