Jim McCabe

We will play the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie without Jean Van de Velde and while some folks think that that is beyond belief, I think it is as it should be.

Having the Frenchman in the field would be anticlimactic, because what in the name of Old Tom Morris could Van de Velde do to live up to the theatrics he donated to our sporting landscape eight years ago?

Answer: He could never match it.

The man authored the greatest collapse in the history of major golf championship and spare me the arguments that Arnold Palmer in the 1966 U.S. Open or Greg Norman in the 1996 Masters were bigger flops. Granted, Palmer squandered a seven-shot lead and Norman a six-hole cushion, but they did so over a stretch of holes — nine for Palmer, 18 for Norman. They slowly melted before our eyes; Van de Velde literally imploded in the time it took a world of golf viewers to say: “What is he thinking?” Or, more accurately, “Why isn’t he thinking?”

The Van de Velde collapse at the 72nd hole of a brutally demanding Carnoustie layout in 1999 had so many subplots that it remains fresh on our minds all the years later. There was the decision to hit driver off of the tee, widely ridiculed because the fairway was so narrow and it brought water into play. Sure enough, Van de Velde hit it poorly — and it’s a good thing he did because he was so wide right he had a clear shot.

From a bad shot that got a great break, Van de Velde delivered a bad shot that got a terrible break, for his second shot should have been simply wide right of the green; instead, it caromed off bleachers and into thick rough, almost unplayable.

If Van de Velde thought to himself, “C’est le vie,” what could he have thought to himself on the third shot, which he chunked into the burn. Then, the moment captured forever — pant legs rolled up, club in hand, he stood in the burn and surveyed the shot.

In the end, the drama was more than anyone could have imagined, because the 1999 British Open had been a nightmare from start to finish, thanks to neck-high rough and a greens superintendent who loved the spotlight.

Van de Velde walked to the 72nd tee that summer day with a three-shot lead, probably could have hit four wedges and won the tournament by two, but instead he scripted a major championship highlight for all time. He found rough. He found a burn. He found sand. And he still, somehow, someway, found it in him to make a putt and get into a playoff.

Naturally, he lost.

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The fact that the winner, Paul Lawrie, has hardly been heard of since, or that the other playoff participant, Justin Leonard, hasn’t ever been quite the same player make you wonder if there wasn’t something about the high grass at Carnoustie that year.

It’s been cut for 2007 — or so they tell us. If so, Van de Velde would hardly recognize the place, so it’s just as well he isn’t here.

Q: Chris DiMarco hasn’t done much since last year’s British Open? What’s been the biggest reason for his struggles?
— B.R. from Foster City, Calif.
A: His game doesn’t exactly fit the mold for what works in pro golf these days, because DiMarco hits a short fade off the tee and in no way can keep up with the majority of his colleagues. Never a great ball-striker, DiMarco has pretty much done it with guts and guile — and a terrific soft putting style. No, he hasn’t done much since the British Open challenge to Tiger Woods last summer, but truth be told, he’s actually squeezed more out of his PGA Tour than his talents probably warranted. At age 38, he’s only won three times — and not since 2002 — and I would argue that he’s always been ranked higher than he deserved to be.

Q: Is Fred Funk the most underrated golfer today? Can’t believe he can still contend at 51.
— Nathan D. from Lexington, Ky.
A: I’m not sure he’s the most underrated, Nathan, but you could make the case for the one-time college golf coach as being the craftiest. He picks and chooses his schedule beautifully, going with courses on which he knows he can compete given his lack of length and fairways-and-greens mentality. Give him credit, for sure, but let’s not get too carried away, because Funk’s victory earlier this year came opposite the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship and he’ll once again skip the British Open in favor of the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. In other words, he’s doing his best work on the junior varsity team.

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