Golfing disasters Part 16: The 1999 British Open at Carnoustie was one of the most, controversial, extraordinary and memorable for many years and culminated in a collapse that put a new phrase in the golfing lexicon. Forever more, doing a Van de Velde will be equated with spectacularly blowing a tournament with a visit to water a likely if not necessary element to the implosion.

Carnoustie came in for widespread criticism in the days leading up to the championship. The first day's average score was 78.3. Sergio Garcia, who had been crowned Irish Open champion two weeks previously, had to be comforted by his mother after shooting 89. The only player to match the par of 71 was Rodney Pampling and he earned a less welcome distinction the next day when he became the only first-round leader ever to miss the cut as he soared to an 86.

Greg Norman was heading for the halfway lead until he completely missed the ball when attempting a sand wedge recovery at the 17th. "I couldn't see the ball," said Norman. "The rough was so thick that I had to guess where it was."

So instead of a former champion it was a qualifier who topped the leaderboard. Jean Van de Velde birdied the 18th with a two-iron, pitching wedge and three-foot putt to complete a 68 and take a one-shot lead over Angel Cabrera. And to everyone's amazement the Frenchman stayed there for the next 35 holes.

For all of Saturday, when he again birdied the 18th, and for most of Sunday he defied the doom merchants, the conditions and the rest of the field. Van de Velde returned to the 18th tee needing only a double bogey to win the Open.

And that is where the farce began. Van de Velde shunned the safe and sensible approach, took out his driver and carved the ball to the right. In fact he was lucky that is was so far right that it ended on some short grass on the 17th. All he had to do was swallow his pride, play a wedge back over to the 18th fairway and the engraver could start his work. Van de Velde would then have another wedge to the green plus two or three putts to become British Open champion.

But instead of swallowing, he choked. "Maybe I should have done it the safe and boring way. Maybe I shouldn't have bothered about what people would think of me but I wasn't at all happy with the idea of playing a wedge. I think that would have gone against the spirit of the game."

So instead he took a two-iron and sent the ball long and right towards the greenside stand. It ricocheted off a metal support, took a big hop backwards off a path and settled in some heavy rough back on the wrong side of the water.

Sideways to the fairway was now the prudent choice but Van de Velde went forwards and fluffed his sand wedge into the Barry Burn. He took off his shoes and socks and paddled around thinking about an audacious recovery before accepting a penalty drop.

He got dressed again and pitched into a bunker from where he actually made a fine up and down for a triple bogey seven that dropped him into a tie with Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard.

Lawrie won the four-hole play-off and remains the most recent European winner of a major. Van de Velde missed out but at Carnoustie he surely gave the lie to the old adage that no-one ever remembers who finished second.