One-Shot Disasters: A Major Championship Hall of Shame
We make an exception to our one-shot rule for Jean Van de Velde, because he threw away the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie with so many mind-bogglingly atrocious shots, and made a similar number of cataclysmically idiotic decisions, that it's impossible to select just one. The situation: In the final round, Van de Velde came to 18 needed a double-bogey six to win. What happened: After a horribly sliced drive, he tried to hit a miracle 185-yard 2-iron to the green instead of laying up for an easy bogey. The ball sailed right, bounced off the bleachers and landed in thick rough in front of a burn. He flubbed his next shot into the burn and hit the ensuing shot (his fifth) into a greenside bunker. After a good sand shot to six feet, he holed the putt for a seven. In the years since, Van de Velde lost his playing privileges on the PGA Tour and the European tours, got divorced and has been forced to not play golf for long stretches because of physical ailments.


