Golf

Water foils golfer's bid ... again

By BOB HARIG
Published June 30, 2005

It is ironic that the words "deja vu" emanate from France. Because there was Frenchman Jean Van de Velde on Sunday, a driver in his hand, leading a golf tournament. And after his tee shot ended up in the water, didn't it seem like Carnoustie all over again?

The French Open is not the same as the British Open and Van de Velde had just a one-stroke lead Sunday, opposed to the three-shot advantage he took to the last tee in 1999, the Claret Jug seemingly in his hands.

But in both cases, Van de Velde squandered a chance to win. And both times, water came into play.

Van de Velde became the source of ridicule when he played boldly on the final hole of the '99 British Open. With a three-shot lead, Van de Velde twice refused to play conservatively, going for glory. He hit one shot off the grandstand, another in the famous Barry Burn, from where photographers caught him smiling for the cameras as he contemplated playing the shot - his pants rolled up - standing in the creek.

He instead took a drop, knocked his next shot into a bunker and had to get it up and down for the 7 that put him in a playoff with Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard . Lawrie won. But Van de Velde was more famous.

"I could not live with myself knowing that I tried to play for safety and that I blew it," Van de Velde said.

Although Van de Velde earned a spot on the PGA Tour and posted a couple of runner-up finishes in 2000, he had lost his card by the end of the 2001 season. Then his marriage broke up. And he suffered a knee injury skiing, one that required two operations and left him wondering if he could walk, let alone play golf.

This year, he needed sponsor exemptions to gain entry to tournaments in Europe, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him atop the leaderboard at the French Open. He took a one-shot lead to the 72nd hole at Le Golf National near Paris, then saw his drive trickle into the water. He made a bogey, forcing a playoff with countryman Jean-Francois Remesy .

And that is when things got weird. Van de Velde returned to the 18th hole for the playoff, hit his approach over the green and into the water, then chopped his way to a triple-bogey 7 - allowing Remesy to win with a 6.

It was a tough defeat, but still brought many benefits. Van de Velde now has a spot in the British Open at St. Andrews in two weeks and will be exempt next year on the European Tour.

"I have to look at it a different way," Van de Velde said. "I haven't been in any position like this in the last three years and haven't been able to play golf the last two, so at least I am playing well, put myself up there and all I can hope is to have another chance pretty soon. I have a job now."

NOT SO FAST: Michael Campbell earned a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour for winning the U.S. Open. But it doesn't appear he will take advantage of it. Campbell told reporters at this week's European Open in Ireland that he will likely stay put.

"I've got no reason to change," said Campbell, who makes his first appearance since winning the Open. "I tried America three, two years ago, but it didn't work out. My kids go to school in England. I'm just so established here. There's no way in the world that I want to ruin the routine now."

Campbell said he will likely come to the United States for only the major championships and World Golf Championship events.

PGA PREVIEW: PGA preview: Vijay Singh got a look at Baltusrol Golf Club on Monday and was impressed with what he saw. Despite hitting all but the first fairway, the defending PGA Championship winner managed just one birdie and shot even-par 72 on the 7,392-yard course, where the PGA Championship will be played in August.

"It's going to be pretty long," Singh said. "The way it played (Monday), a lot of 5-irons, 4-irons and 3-irons."

Singh said he liked the fact that the course finishes with two par-5s. His only birdie came at the par-5 17th, which measures 650 yards. After a drive that he called his best of the day, "My caddie said, you only have 365 yards to the green." Singh said. He hit an approach that came up 70 yards short, then wedged on and made the putt.

AROUND GOLF: Tiger Woods needs to earn just under $57,000 this week to become the first player to reach the $50-million mark in career PGA Tour earnings.

SOME THINGS SEEM UNFAIR: Hale Irwin , 60, won his first super senior event on the Champions Tour, the tournament-within-a-tournament for 60 and older players, at the Bank of America Championship. Irwin has twice won regular events this year, including the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

--Information from Times wires was used in this report.

[Last modified June 30, 2005, 00:59:15]