By Dave, The Carnoustie Caddie. On the bag since 1998. Updated 10 September 2026.
In the 1999 Open, Jean van de Velde stood on the 18th tee with a three-shot lead, needing a six to win. He hit driver, then went for the green, hit the grandstand, bounced again off the wall of the burn into deep rough, put his third in the Barry Burn, took his shoes and socks off and thought about playing it, then made a triple-bogey seven. He lost the four-hole playoff to Paul Lawrie.
How many shots did Van de Velde need on the 18th?
Six. A double bogey would have won him the Open Championship.
He’d led all week. He came to the last three clear of Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard, on a hole he’d played well for three days. He needed no worse than a six. Then he took driver.
What went wrong, shot by shot?
One. Driver off the tee, pushed right. It cleared the burn and finished over on the 17th. People talk about that drive as if it was a disaster. It wasn’t. He had a fairway lie. That ground is rough now, but back then it was fairway on 17.
Two. Going for the green from there. It hit the grandstand, bounced back, and bounced again off the top brick of the wall of the burn. Two bounces off things that should never have been in play, and he is in deep rough.
Three. From that rough, into the Barry Burn. He climbed in, rolled his trousers up, took his shoes and socks off and stood in the water looking at it. He reckoned half the ball was showing and he could play it like a bunker shot. The tide was coming up. He thought better of it.
Four. The penalty stroke, and a drop.
Five. Into the greenside bunker.
Six. Out of the bunker to about six feet.
Seven. Holed the putt. And that putt, the one nobody remembers, is what got him into a playoff at all.
Who won, and how?
Paul Lawrie, and his week is the part of the story that gets forgotten.
Lawrie started the final round ten shots off the lead. He shot 67. The R&A’s own account of the Open calls it the biggest final-round comeback in Open history.
The playoff was an aggregate over four holes, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Lawrie went round in level par for the four. Leonard and van de Velde both finished three over. Lawrie sealed it with a 4-iron to four feet at the last for birdie, on the hole that had just broken the man beside him.
Why does it still matter?
Because it is widely considered the biggest collapse from a winning position in all of sport.
Everyone who plays the 18th now stands on that tee and thinks about him. That’s her power. The yardage is not what does it. She’s 444 yards off the back tee and 499 when the Open is here. She’s the hardest because you know what she’s done to better players than you.
She’s done it since, too. In 2007 Padraig Harrington found the burn twice on the 72nd hole, made six, and still won the playoff against Sergio Garcia.
And it happened before him. In 1975 Johnny Miller was leading as he played the last and drove into the last of the three fairway bunkers up the right, a big love heart shaped thing that carries his name now. While he stood over it, Tom Watson holed out for birdie in the group ahead and the roar went up. Birdie made Miller champion, par got him a playoff, bogey and he was gone. So he went for the green from the sand. Left it in there. Made five and never made the playoff at all.
It is a deceiving bunker that makes you think you can get it out. I have been asked many times, can I get this up and on. My answer is the same every time. If you are better than Johnny Miller in his prime, go for it. If not, wedge it out. Bunkers in Scotland are penal. Basically a one shot penalty.
Can I play it myself?
Yes. The 18th is the closing hole of the Championship Course and any visitor round finishes on it. Green fees are £360 in 2026 high season, 1 May to 31 October, around $485, and £249 in April, around $335. Current green fees are on the Links’ own green fees page.
Dollar figures are rounded at about $1.35 to the pound and move with the rate.
How the 18th really plays, and every other hole: The Carnoustie Caddie: How the Course Really Plays.
Quick answers
What score did Jean van de Velde make on the 18th at Carnoustie in 1999? A triple-bogey seven, when a double-bogey six would have won him the Open.
Did Van de Velde play from the Barry Burn? No. He took his shoes and socks off and stood in the water considering it, then took a penalty drop.
Was it the biggest collapse in sport? It is widely considered the biggest collapse from a winning position in all of sport. He needed a double bogey six on the last to win the Open and made seven.
Was Van de Velde’s drive on the 18th a bad shot? No. It went right and finished over on the 17th, and he had a fairway lie. That ground is rough now, but in 1999 it was fairway.
Who won the 1999 Open at Carnoustie? Paul Lawrie, in a four-hole playoff against Jean van de Velde and Justin Leonard.
How long is the 18th hole at Carnoustie? 444 yards off the back tee on the visitor card, and 499 yards in Open Championship setup.
How far back was Paul Lawrie starting the final round? Ten shots, the biggest final-round comeback in Open history.
Is there a bunker named after Johnny Miller at Carnoustie? Yes. Johnny Miller’s is the last of the three fairway bunkers up the right on the 18th, a big love heart shaped bunker. He drove into it leading the 1975 Open, went for the green from the sand, left it in there and made five.
Before you play Carnoustie
The Carnoustie Caddie: How the Course Really Plays is all 18 holes the way I would give them to you on the bag. The wind, the bunkers that actually cost you shots, where the burns sit, and the club to hit standing on the tee.
Signed copies, posted from Carnoustie, inscribed to whoever you want. Or get it on Amazon.
Back to Carnoustie, Answered · The hardest hole at Carnoustie
I am an independent caddie and this site is not affiliated with Carnoustie Golf Links.