“This is so, so, so, so, sad. And so avoidable.” An appreciation of Jean Van de Velde’s Open Championship Collapse On Its 20th Anniversary

Over at The Ringer, I reflected on Jean Van de Velde’s collapse on the 72nd hole of the 1999 Open Championship. Recommended for golf fans or simply fans of the rich bounty of human experience! A genuine high tragedy/low comedy spectacular!

Van de Velde’s shot-down-in-a-blaze-of-glory moment was not the stuff of abject failure but rather of a doomed folk hero undone by his danger-seeking. “What are you rebelling against?” the 18th hole seemed to ask. “What have you got?” Van de Velde responded, taking out his driver.