Rewind to Carnoustie 1999, Jean Van de Velde prepares to take his second shot on the par four 18th, needing only a six to win the title, the smart shot is to lay up and go for the green in three. This would have been relatively low-risk and had it worked would have given him three putts to win his first major.
Van de Velde was having none of it. He decided to go straight at the green, the ball hit the grandstand, he then put his next shot into the water and eventulally scrambled a seven. This put him into a three way playoff, which he lost. Van de Velde has been labelled a choker and his actions idiotic ever since.
Unfair I decry: firstly he did not choke, he played a nice bunker shot and one-putted to achieve his seven. Secondly he did something that the vast majority of us would not have the courage to do: risk losing a major championship to preserve a legacy of flamboyance.
