Jean van de Velde is a professional golfer from France. Van de Velde became professional in 1987 and made his European Tour debut in 1989. The 1993 Roma Masters was his first European Tour victory.
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He has placed in the top twenty in the Order of Merit on two occasions. In 1999, he came within three shots of winning The Open Championship, but he lost a three-shot lead on the final hole.
Velde was five shots ahead of Justin Leonard and Craig Parry going into the final round. Van de Velde had a three-shot lead at the 18th tee and needed just a double-bogey six to become the first Frenchman to win a major tournament since 1907.
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Van de Velde hit a six-foot putt for a triple-bogey seven, putting him in a three-way playoff alongside Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie. Lawrie was victorious in the playoffs.
In professional golf history, the performance has become legendary. It was originally dubbed the “greatest collapse” in golf, and ESPN ranked it 13th among the 25 worst collapses in sports history in 2016. In 2016, USA Today named it fourth among the worst sports collapses.
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