| 1999 British Open | |
Unheralded Scotsman Paul Lawrie, a local lad, claimed the Claret Jug at Carnoustie. Lawrie did it by winning a four-hole playoff over Justin Leonard, the 1997 Open Champion, and Jean Van de Velde.
Ah, Van de Velde. It's not the playoff or the champion who is best remembered from the 1999 British Open, but Van de Velde and the calamity that befell him - or rather, that he created - on the 72nd hole.
The 2-iron flew right of the green, hit the grandstands and bounded backwards, back across the burn. Now in the really deep heather, Van de Velde's pitch fell into the burn. For a moment Van de Velde contemplated trying to play out of the burn, then decided to drop behind the burn again. This time his pitch cleared the burn but found a bunker. He blasted out to seven feet and made the putt for a triple-bogey.
It was quite the spectacle, and one of the most infamous final-hole meltdowns in golf history.
And it overshadowed Lawrie's own exploits. Lawrie - who clinched the victory with a birdie on the fourth playoff hole (he led both Leonard and Van de Velde by one going into the final playoff hole) - started the final round 10 strokes off the lead. Which made his victory here the largest final-round comeback win not only in British Open history, but in PGA Tour history.
1999 British Open Scores
Results and prize money from the 1999 British Open played on the Championship Course at Carnoustie Golf Links (par 72) in Carnoustie, Scotland (x-won four hole playoff; a-amateur):
| x-Paul Lawrie, $577,500 | 73-74-76-67-290 |
| Justin Leonard, $305,250 | 73-74-71-72-290 |
| Jean Van de Velde, $305,250 | 75-68-70-77-290 |
| Angel Cabrera, $165,000 | 75-69-77-70-291 |
| Craig Parry, $165,000 | 76-75-67-73-291 |
| Greg Norman, $115,500 | 76-70-75-72-293 |
| Tiger Woods, $82,500 | 74-72-74-74-294 |
| Davis Love, $82,500 | 74-74-77-69-294 |
| David Frost, $82,500 | 80-69-71-74-294 |
| Scott Dunlap, $57,420 | 72-77-76-70-295 |
| Jim Furyk, $57,420 | 78-71-76-70-295 |
| Retief Goosen, $57,420 | 76-75-73-71-295 |
| Jesper Parnevik, $57,420 | 74-71-78-72-295 |
| Hal Sutton, $57,420 | 73-78-72-72-295 |
| Colin Montgomerie, $42,900 | 74-76-72-74-296 |
| Tsuyoshi Yoneyama, $42,900 | 77-74-73-72-296 |
| Scott Verplank, $42,900 | 80-74-73-69-296 |
| Lee Westwood, $33,825 | 76-75-74-72-297 |
| Costantino Rocca, $33,825 | 81-69-74-73-297 |
| Patrik Sjoland, $33,825 | 74-72-77-74-297 |
| Andrew Coltart, $33,825 | 74-74-72-77-297 |
| Bernhard Langer, $33,825 | 72-77-73-75-297 |
| Frank Nobilo, $33,825 | 76-76-70-75-297 |
| Miguel Angel Martin, $25,425 | 74-76-72-76-298 |
| Peter O'Malley, $25,425 | 76-75-74-73-298 |
| Brian Watts, $25,425 | 74-73-77-74-298 |
| Ian Woosnam, $25,425 | 76-74-74-74-298 |
| Ernie Els, $25,425 | 74-76-76-72-298 |
| Padraig Harrington, $22,275 | 77-74-74-74-299 |
| Payne Stewart, $19,069 | 79-73-74-74-300 |
| Pierre Fulke, $19,069 | 75-75-77-73-300 |
| Darren Clarke, $19,069 | 76-75-76-73-300 |
| Thomas Bjorn, $19,069 | 79-73-75-73-300 |
| Jeff Maggert, $19,069 | 75-77-75-73-300 |
| Tim Herron, $19,069 | 81-70-74-75-300 |
| Len Mattiace, $19,069 | 73-74-75-78-300 |
| Nick Price, $15,675 | 77-74-73-77-301 |
| Paul Affleck, $15,675 | 79-75-74-73-301 |
| Peter Baker, $15,675 | 77-74-78-72-301 |
| Dudley Hart, $15,675 | 73-79-75-74-301 |
| Mark McNulty, $15,675 | 73-77-76-75-301 |
| Michael Weir, $15,675 | 83-71-72-75-301 |
| Duffy Waldorf, $14,355 | 80-72-76-74-302 |
| Mark James, $,14,355 | 76-74-74-78-302 |
| David Howell, $13,386 | 76-78-79-70-303 |
| Jeff Sluman, $13,386 | 80-74-77-72-303 |
| Steve Pate, $13,386 | 73-76-80-74-303 |
| Joe Ozaki, $13,386 | 74-78-75-76-303 |
| Thomas Levet, $11,908 | 78-76-76-74-304 |
| Choi Kyoung-Ju, $11,908 | 76-72-81-75-304 |
| Dean Robertson, $11,908 | 76-75-78-75-304 |
| Stephen Allan, $11,908 | 79-73-83-69-304 |
| Neil Price, $11,908 | 79-74-76-75-304 |
| Katsuyoshi Tomori, $11,908 | 74-75-79-76-304 |
| Bob Estes, $11,908 | 75-76-77-76-304 |
| Peter Lonard, $11,908 | 76-78-74-76-304 |
| Bradley Hughes, $11,908 | 76-71-78-79-304 |
| Santiago Luna, $10,829 | 78-74-80-73-305 |
| Dennis Paulson, $10,829 | 74-78-79-74-305 |
| Phillip Price, $10,829 | 77-76-77-75-305 |
| Jeremy Robinson, $10,829 | 77-76-77-75-305 |
| David Duval, $10,478 | 79-75-76-76-306 |
| Johan Rystrom, $10,478 | 78-75-76-77-306 |
| Mark Brooks, $10,478 | 82-70-76-78-306 |
| Jarmo Sandelin, $10,313 | 75-78-77-77-307 |
| Sven Struver, $10,230 | 77-73-79-79-308 |
| Lee Thompson, $10,148 | 75-78-76-80-309 |
| Brian Davis, $10,024 | 80-71-82-77-310 |
| John Huston, $10,024 | 80-71-77-82-310 |
| Lee Janzen, $9,900 | 80-74-79-78-311 |
| Shingo Katayama, $9,900 | 76-75-78-83-312 |
| Martyn Thompson, $9,900 | 76-78-78-81-313 |
| Derrick Cooper, $9,900 | 75-77-76-85-313 |
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