1999 British Open: Van de Velde's Epic Collapse
Winner: Paul Lawrie, 290
Where it was played: Carnoustie Golf Links, Angus, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 15-18, 1999
Leader after first round: Rod Pampling, 71
Leader after second round: Jean van de Velde, 143
Leader after third round: Jean van de Velde, 213
Notable Notes: Jean van de Velde suffered one of the epic collapses in golf history at this Open. He led by five entering the final round, and led by three shots as he arrived on the final tee. He could have double-bogeyed and won, but instead he triple-bogeyed, then lost in a playoff.
The winner was Paul Lawrie (Justin Leonard was the third man in the playoff), who had started the final round 10 strokes off the lead. Lawrie thus set a new record for largest final-round comeback in a major. He won the playoff by three strokes.
As for Van de Velde's collapse: His drive was poor but safe. His approach into the green hit the metal grandstands and rebounded into very thick rough. He tried to gouge the ball across water to the green, but went into the water instead. After spending several minutes down in the water, mulling whether to try hitting out of the water, Van de Velde took the penalty and dropped behind the water again. This time, he cleared the water but hit into a bunker. He got up and down from the bunker for triple bogey.
Final Scores
| x-Paul Lawrie | 73-74-76-67-290 |
| Justin Leonard | 73-74-71-72-290 |
| Jean Van de Velde | 75-68-70-77-290 |
| Angel Cabrera | 75-69-77-70-291 |
| Craig Parry | 76-75-67-73-291 |
| Greg Norman | 76-70-75-72-293 |
| Tiger Woods | 74-72-74-74-294 |
| Davis Love | 74-74-77-69-294 |
| David Frost | 80-69-71-74-294 |
| Scott Dunlap | 72-77-76-70-295 |
| Jim Furyk | 78-71-76-70-295 |
| Retief Goosen | 76-75-73-71-295 |
| Jesper Parnevik | 74-71-78-72-295 |
| Hal Sutton | 73-78-72-72-295 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 74-76-72-74-296 |
| Tsuyoshi Yoneyama | 77-74-73-72-296 |
| Scott Verplank | 80-74-73-69-296 |
| Lee Westwood | 76-75-74-72-297 |
| Costantino Rocca | 81-69-74-73-297 |
| Patrik Sjoland | 74-72-77-74-297 |
| Andrew Coltart | 74-74-72-77-297 |
| Bernhard Langer | 72-77-73-75-297 |
| Frank Nobilo | 76-76-70-75-297 |
| Miguel Angel Martin | 74-76-72-76-298 |
| Peter O'Malley | 76-75-74-73-298 |
| Brian Watts | 74-73-77-74-298 |
| Ian Woosnam | 76-74-74-74-298 |
| Ernie Els | 74-76-76-72-298 |
| Padraig Harrington | 77-74-74-74-299 |
| Payne Stewart | 79-73-74-74-300 |
| Pierre Fulke | 75-75-77-73-300 |
| Darren Clarke | 76-75-76-73-300 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 79-73-75-73-300 |
| Jeff Maggert | 75-77-75-73-300 |
| Tim Herron | 81-70-74-75-300 |
| Len Mattiace | 73-74-75-78-300 |
| Nick Price | 77-74-73-77-301 |
| Paul Affleck | 79-75-74-73-301 |
| Peter Baker | 77-74-78-72-301 |
| Dudley Hart | 73-79-75-74-301 |
| Mark McNulty | 73-77-76-75-301 |
| Michael Weir | 83-71-72-75-301 |
| Duffy Waldorf | 80-72-76-74-302 |
| Mark James | 76-74-74-78-302 |
| David Howell | 76-78-79-70-303 |
| Jeff Sluman | 80-74-77-72-303 |
| Steve Pate | 73-76-80-74-303 |
| Joe Ozaki | 74-78-75-76-303 |
| Thomas Levet | 78-76-76-74-304 |
| Choi Kyoung-Ju | 76-72-81-75-304 |
| Dean Robertson | 76-75-78-75-304 |
| Stephen Allan | 79-73-83-69-304 |
| Neil Price | 79-74-76-75-304 |
| Katsuyoshi Tomori | 74-75-79-76-304 |
| Bob Estes | 75-76-77-76-304 |
| Peter Lonard | 76-78-74-76-304 |
| Bradley Hughes | 76-71-78-79-304 |
| Santiago Luna | 78-74-80-73-305 |
| Dennis Paulson | 74-78-79-74-305 |
| Phillip Price | 77-76-77-75-305 |
| Jeremy Robinson | 77-76-77-75-305 |
| David Duval | 79-75-76-76-306 |
| Johan Rystrom | 78-75-76-77-306 |
| Mark Brooks | 82-70-76-78-306 |
| Jarmo Sandelin | 75-78-77-77-307 |
| Sven Struver | 77-73-79-79-308 |
| Lee Thompson | 75-78-76-80-309 |
| Brian Davis | 80-71-82-77-310 |
| John Huston | 80-71-77-82-310 |
| Lee Janzen | 80-74-79-78-311 |
| Shingo Katayama | 76-75-78-83-312 |
| Martyn Thompson | 76-78-78-81-313 |
| Derrick Cooper | 75-77-76-85-313 |
