Jean van de Velde (golfer)

Jean van de Velde
— Golfer —

Van de Velde in 2016
Personal information
Full name Jean van de Velde
Born (1966-05-29) 29 May 1966
Mont-de-Marsan, France
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Nationality  France
Residence Hong Kong
Spouse Jessica Meyers
Children Alexandra (b. 1992)
Anne Sophie (b. 1997)
Hugo (b. 2005)
Louie (b. 2008)
Career
Turned professional 1987
Former tour(s) European Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins 7
Number of wins by tour
European Tour 2
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T19: 2000
U.S. Open T45: 2002
The Open Championship T2: 1999
PGA Championship T30: 2000

Jean van de Velde (born 29 May 1966) is a French professional golfer who is known mainly for his dramatic loss at The Open Championship in 1999.

Van de Velde was born in Mont-de-Marsan, Landes, France. He turned professional in 1987 and his rookie season on the European Tour was 1989. His first European Tour win was the 1993 Roma Masters. He has twice finished in the top twenty of the Order of Merit. He played on the PGA Tour in 2000 and 2001.

1999 Open Championship

Van de Velde nearly achieved an upset victory at the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie, when he was the clear leader playing the closing holes. He arrived at the 18th tee needing only a double bogey six to become the first Frenchman since 1907 to win the tournament. He had played error-free golf for much of the week and birdied the 18th hole in two prior rounds.

Despite a three-shot lead, Van de Velde chose to use his driver off the tee, and proceeded to drive the ball to the right of the burn and was lucky to find land. Rather than laying up and hitting the green with his third, Van de Velde decided to go for the green with his second shot. His shot drifted right, ricocheted backwards off the railings of the grandstands by the side of the green, landed on top of the stone wall of the Barry Burn and then bounced fifty yards backwards into knee-deep rough.

On his third shot, Van de Velde's club got tangled in the rough on his downswing, and his ball flew into the Barry Burn, a water hazard. He removed his shoes and socks and gingerly stepped through shin-deep water as he debated whether to try to hit his ball out of the Barry Burn, which guards the 18th green. Ultimately, he took a drop and proceeded to hit his fifth shot into the greenside bunker. Van de Velde blasted to within six feet from the hole, and made the putt for a triple-bogey seven, dropping him into a three-way playoff with Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie. Lawrie would eventually triumph in the playoff.

Later career

In the new millennium, Van de Velde was troubled by injuries for several years, but he made a dramatic comeback at the 2005 Open de France, where he lost a playoff to fellow Frenchman Jean-François Remésy (after, once again, finding water on the last hole). In 2006, he won his second European Tour title at the Madeira Island Open Caixa Geral de Depositos.

In 2012 he was named by UNICEF France as an ambassador – only the second French sportsman, after Lilian Thuram, to achieve this.[1]

Amateur wins (3)

Professional wins (7)

European Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin
of victory		Runner-up
1 18 Apr 1993 Roma Masters 66-76-67-72=281 –7 Playoff New Zealand Greg Turner
2 26 Mar 2006 Madeira Island Open Caixa Geral de Depositos 69-65-71-68=273 –15 1 stroke England Lee Slattery

Other wins (4)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT DNP T34 T38 DNP DNP CUT DNP T2
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T26
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Masters Tournament T19 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open CUT DNP T45 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T31 CUT DNP DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP T19
PGA Championship T30 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
The Open Championship 0 1 0 1 1 2 9 5
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Totals 0 1 0 1 1 3 14 9

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Trivia

Van de Velde made light of his 1999 Open collapse in a humorous Never Compromise infomercial in which he replayed Carnoustie's 18th hole in the dead of winter with only the company's brand putter in an attempt to best the seven strokes that cost him the championship. He succeeded on his third attempt.

References

  1. ↑ Dunsmuir, Alistair (7 July 2012). "Van de Velde named UNICEF ambassador". Golf Club Management. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
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