Van de Velde wakes up to reality

Jean Van de Velde woke up this morning to the realisation that he had thrown away the greatest prize in world golf.

The amiable Frenchman, who is sponsored by Disneyland, will be remembered as the goofiest man in golf after squandering a three-shot lead going into the last hole of the British Open.

He could yet have the consolation of a spot in Europe's Ryder Cup team after his joint-second place, behind champion Paul Lawrie, saw him rise from 26 to eight in the table for Brookline against the United States in September.

That, however, will take some sinking in after the extraordinary climax to one of the most controversial Open championships in history.

Why oh why Van de Velde did not decide to lay up instead of thrashing a two-iron approach to the final green is a question which will haunt him for the rest of his life.

It was something he was still contemplating late last night, hours after his Open had ended in spectacular failure.

"The option was hitting a wedge down the left side and then a pitch on to the green and two putt or three putt and walk off with it.

"Instead I hit a two iron and pushed it a bit. I didn't hit a very good shot."

The mistake led to him thrashing the ball into the watery burn, at which point he took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers and waded in.

"I took off my shoes because at first there was three-quarters of the ball outside the water, lying on mud. It was pretty firm and I thought I had a pretty good chance of hitting it on the green.

"Then the ball was sinking, telling me: 'Hey, you madman, not for you, not today'. It was then three inches in the water and at that moment there was no hope."

He took a drop, put the next shot in a bunker and added: "It was a good up and down, mind you.

"I played 71 holes very well and kept my composure and my head. It just came out to be a nightmare."

And while the philosophical Frenchman shrugged off his disappointment saying: "There are some worse things in life," and he added that given the chance to play the hole again he would lay up with the wedge.

"Some terrible things happen to other people and it's a golf tournament, it's only a game and I gave it my best shot," he said.

"But next time I'll hit a wedge and hope you'll all forgive me. You might call me a coward but next time I hit a wedge."

Van de Velde's wife Brigitte, who could be seen chuckling amid the greenside gallery as the hilarious and extraordinary events unfolded, insisted that her husband will bounce back.

"It has been good to see him play as good as he can this week," she said. "There was just that one mistake at the last. It was silly and I told him that he should have played for safety."