Jean Van de Velde
Residence: Dubai, UAE
DOB: 29/05/1966
Jean will forever be remembered as the man who nearly won The Open Championship. Led in 1999 at Carnoustie by three shots playing the 72nd hole only to take a triple bogey seven and then lose a play-off to Paul Lawrie. Later made light of events in a humorous 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 better the seven strokes that cost him the championship. He succeeded on his third attempt.
However he also has 2 European Tour victories to his name. The most recent of which came thirteen years after his only previous European Tour victory and just two months short of his 40th birthday. The Frenchman returned to winning form by claiming the 2006 Madeira Island Open Caixa Geral de Depositos.
Earlier in his career he had feared he might not play again after injuring his knee skiing and undergoing two surgical reconstructions and as a result lost his playing privileges on the European Tour. Jean regained his card in 2005 by virtue of his second place at the Open de France and his emotional victory in Madeira earned him a further two years’ exemption.
2009 has not got off to the best start for Jean. After a 126 place finish on the Order of Merit in 2008 he would have been hoping to get out of the block quickly. However his best finish is only a tie for 48th at the Volvo China Open.
Jean Van de Velde Tournament History
2008 The Open Championship |
17-20 July - The Open Championship - Royal Birkdale. The 137th Open Championship was successfully defended by Padraig Harrington. He shot -4 on the back 9 on the Sunday to pull away from Ian Poulter and overnight leader Greg Norman. The Open this year was without one notable absentee as World #1 Tiger Woods was recovering from knee surgery. Greg Norman became the oldest golfer ever to hold at least a share of the 54-hole lead when he led by 2 strokes on +2. Due to extremely high winds, no one managed to play under par for the round, and it was first time since 1986 when the 54-hole leader was not under par. Despite a wrist injury that almost forced him to withdraw prior to the tournament Harrington pulled away from the field with a tremendous back 9 and became only the fifth golfer to retain the Open Championship in the last 50 years. |
In Jean Van de Velde's bag...Opening rounds of 73 and 71 place Jean in a fantastic position to strike going into the weekend. However a round of 80 on the Saturday put pay to any Open Champion dreams that the Frenchman might have been having. He did recover on the Sunday with a 70, 10 shots better than the previous day, to finish inside the top-20 in a tie for 19th.
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