Poll: The Worst Final Hole Collapse to lose a major
A. Arnold Palmer needs par on 18 to win and a bogey for playoff, but double bogeys at 1961 Masters.
B. Jean Van De Velde needs a double bogey to win, but triple bogeys at 1999 Open at Carnoustie (loses in playoff).
C. Colin Montgomerie needs (as it later turned out) a par to win and a bogey for a playoff, but double bogeys at this year's U.S. Open.
D. Phil Mickleson needs a par to win and a bogey for a playoff, but double bogeys at this year's U.S. Open.
E. (UPDATE): from ESPN: "In 1939, Sam Sneed needed a par on the 72nd hole to win. But in the days before on-course scoreboards, Snead thought he needed a birdie. He played aggressively, made a triple-bogey 8 and finished two strokes out of a playoff, won by Byron Nelson."
10 Comments:
B. Jean Van de Velde
Was not born to live through the Arnie collapse, and Phil on 18 got a nice bounce off of the patron's tent which ended up in a great lie. HA!
Monte similar to VdVelde choked; perfect lie, and left it short.
Why VdVelde?
The arena at the Brit Open was much more intimidating with the 18th hole being almost a cow pasture with nobody around VdVelde as he was isolated from the crowds. Nobody was happy that VdVelde was stuck in the creek.
Boo to the fans @ Winged Foot!!!
People were clapping for Monte's collapse, and Phil got a standing ovation for his collapse. What the hell is going on?
It has to be: (B) Jean Van de Velde.
Lefty obviously pulled off a "major" choke job today BUT he was coming off of back-to-back majors and will likely have many more chances in the future (though he might want to hit more than 2 fairways to increase his chances--God made woods and long irons for a reason!!).
On the other hand, Van de Velde lost what is and probably will be his one shot at golf glory.
Besides, in the end the simple answer to your question is that you will never hear someone say "you pulled a Micklesoon" when collapsing on a hole (at least not based on this year's Open). But "you pulled a Van de Velde" has engrained itself into golf lexicon forever. Trust me, I know, because I hear it all the time!!!
Don't know about Arnie's double, but that sounds pretty bad. The 18th at Augusta isn't that tough and the guy had a lot course knowledge and experience there, so that's sounds pretty bad.
Van DeVelde's was the worst I've seen. I don't think there is much comparison between that and Winged Foot really. First, Vandy clearly knew on the tee that he had a 3 shot lead and as I recall he was playing a par 5? Either way, it wasn't a very difficult hole. My point is that second guessing Phil pulling driver at 18 is wrong. Oglivy was only one stroke back and could have birdied 18 for all Phil knew as he stood on the 18th tee. So he would have been foolish not to play for par right off the tee. What if Oglivy's approach had landed two yards farther? He could have easily birdied. How stupid would Phil look if he played 3 iron off the tee and ends up making bogey to lose the Open? Also, Winged Foot is no doubt the scariest course any of these guys have ever played. It definitely got into everybody's head. It's no coincidence that 4 seasoned pros with a bunch of majors experience (Paddy, Monty, Furyk and Phil) couldn't par out for the win.
Phil's rep will still be OK if he wins another major or two. After all, who talks that much about Arnie's collapse? Hogan had some embarrassing losses also, as I recall. Even Woods barely missed choking against DiMarco when Chris's chip lipped out. That would have been considered a big chink in Tiger's armor. Bogey Bogey finish to lose the Masters on Sunday. Would have happened if that chip had dropped.
Phil had hit a six iron on the mark 234 yards on the last par three. He could have used four iron on the tee and had seven iron or maybe even eight to get home. He only hit 1/2 dozen fairways over the whole weekend.
I've heard absolutely enough about his great preparation and meticulous thought process he shares with his caddy.
It's like I said in the "Who's more popular" thread: Phil doesn't have the mental discipline you need to be at the very top. This is evident from his man-boobs and reckless aggression under pressure.
"This is evident from his man-boobs and reckless aggression under pressure. "
That's hella funny..
Anyhow, I believe that in the modern era, Phil's blowup yesterday was by FAR the worst final hole collapse to lose a major. He should've KNOWN better...he's won three majors, it's not like he's never been there before, so there's no excuse whatsoever. Even AFTER he drove in in the rough, he could've easil pitched out and made a 4 and at worst a 5. Biggest blow up in the modern history of the majors.
I agree w/ Roarin Ryan and oldbattler. The part about Phil's "man boobs" is hilarious. But doesn't Monty have them as well?
B. Jean Van de Velde - definitely. He needed an 7 ... to win.
The thing about this collapse is that his playing level fell to such a low level during it. Basically, most golfers could have gotten the 7 to win. At least the other collapses, although bad, were at least still at the level of professional golfer and not that of weekend hacker.
I remember the '99 Open. The announcers were absolutely stunned at virtually every play he made on that last hole. The club selections, the attempted plays, and the actual execution were all stunningly bad. I can't believe that I was alone as I was yelling/laughing at the TV screen as I watched.
How about this one from the 1933 Open at St. Andrews?
...one round to play the lead was shared by Henry Cotton, Abe Mitchell, Syd Easterbrook and Diegel, closely chased by Craig Wood after a fine 68 and Gene Sarazen.
From the middle of the pack American Densmore Shute returned his fourth round of 73 and found he was sharing the clubhouse lead with fellow Ryder Cup player Craig Wood.
It looked certain that they would be joined by a third member of the team when Diegel played a fine second shot to the last hole and needed two putts for a tie. He left the first putt virtually stone dead and crouched over the ball in his familiar style with elbows splayed wide, forearms parallel with the ground.
Renowned golf correspondent Bernard Darwin reported that Diegel missed "by the widest possible margin." He had, in fact, missed the ball completely. An air shot with the putter.
In the subsequent play-off Shute clinched the championship by five shots over 36 holes.
That is from the opengolf.com website, by the way.
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