Joy for Remesy, but more pain for Van de Velde

THERE was joy and pain for the home crowd at the French Open as Jean van de Velde revisited the trauma of his 1999 British Open nightmare to allow defending champion Jean-Francois Remesy to retain his title in a play-off.

Memories of van de Velde taking off his shoes and socks and rolling up his trousers after going into the Barry Burn on the 18th at Carnoustie came flooding back after he pulled his drive into the lake at the last at Le Golf National. Back in 1999 the Frenchman took a seven when he needed a six to win, went into a four-hole play-off and lost to Paul Lawrie.

This time he took a penalty drop and made a bogey five which saw Remesy’s par draw him level on 11 under and force a play-off back down the 18th. Both players found water with their approaches - van de Velde flying the back-left of the green with Remesy coming up short - but Remesy turned up the pressure by hitting his fourth shot to 12 feet.

Van de Velde, faced with a 35-yard pitch out of thick rough over a bunker after his penalty drop, left his ball plugged in the sand, stabbed out to the fringe and chipped past the hole to allow his compatriot to win with a double-bogey six.

A thunderstorm had delayed play for nearly three-and-a-half hours just before the leaders resumed with Eduardo Romero, who broke the course record with his brilliant second-round 62, trying to take over from Ireland’s Des Smyth as the circuit’s oldest-ever champion. But the round began horribly for the Argentinian when he had three bogeys and a double bogey in the first eight holes.

However, van de Velde, a lowly 709th in the world, had an inspired start with birdies at the first from eight feet and the short second when he holed from a bunker.

Remesy followed him in from 30 feet to remain right on his heels, levelled with a 20-footer on the sixth and then made a 12-foot putt at the long ninth to turn in 33. Van de Velde also birdied there, but it looked like a three-man race at that stage with Soren Hansen also out in 33 to be joint second one behind.

Van de Velde then levelled with a 15-footer at the 12th, while Hansen bogeyed it to drop two back.

A bold play by van de Velde at the par-five 14th put him in front after he birdied and Remesy, in rough off the tee, missed a 12-foot putt to join his playing partner at 13 under.

At the 15th van de Velde came within inches of finding the water but then almost holed his chip from the fringe, although he dropped back to 12 under at the next after missing the green. Remesy bogeyed the 17th after leaving his second short and duffing a run-up shot which left him with a 12-foot par putt which he missed.

The drama then turned to the 18th where van de Velde turned his drive into the edge of the lake and had to declare his ball lost, which was where his problems began.