Make or break again for Van de Velde

All because of what happened at Carnoustie five years ago, the Seville Open starting today carries enormous importance for Jean Van de Velde.

If the 37-year-old French star had double-bogeyed the final hole of the 1999 Open championship rather than triple-bogeyed it he would have earned – among other things – a 10-year exemption on the European Tour.

But by taking seven, then losing the subsequent play-off to Paul Lawrie, Van de Velde had no long-term guarantees about his future. And hence the situation in which he now finds himself.

Unless he finishes 35th on Sunday he will lose his place on the circuit and, like Sandy Lyle, be reliant on special invitations from sponsors.

Two knee operations forced Van de Velde to seek a medical extension to his membership at the end of the last two seasons and for 2004 he was given seven events to reach the total he would have needed to keep his card.

Seville is the last of them and Van de Velde is still €7,354 short of his target.

“Of course there’s plenty of pressure, but six months ago I couldn’t walk and two years ago I was not sure whether I would ever play again,” he said.

Meanwhile, Miguel Angel Jimenez is looking for his third win of the season, although the first prize of 166,660 euros (£112,000) will not be anywhere near enough to take the Spaniard back to the top of the Order of Merit.

Ernie Els, number one last season, went top of the standings with his second place finish in the Masters on Sunday.

In the absence of any other players from the world’s top 100 Jimenez can take another big step towards securing a Ryder Cup return in September.