Van de Velde – unlucky loser
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It was one of surely dozens of incidents where luck, or the lack of it, has played its part in major golf events.
Remember how Lee Trevino outrageously hit a bunker escape half way up the flagstick and saw his ball drop into the hole at Muirfield in 1972? How Fred Couples’ ball hung perilously on the bank of creek by the 12th green on his way to winning to win the US Masters 20 years later?
Then there was Jean Van de Velde’s approach that ricochetted wickedly off the grandstand to rob him of the 1999 Open Championship.
Multi major winner Johnny Miller claims that over a golfing career, the average player is going to get more unlucky bounces than good ones by a ratio of about 5 to 1.
He says: "As you age, you become aware of the bad things that can happen, and they tend to rear their ugly heads more often. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy."
He quotes Seve Ballesteros, who has descended into a sort of golfing hell.
"When I was young, no matter where I hit the ball, I always had a shot to the green. Now when I go off line, I am a
lways dead," says the Spaniard.
Apparently, only kids are immune to his 5-to-1 theory.
"They play with an optimism that beats bad luck to death," says Miller. "They have no scar tissue from past experiences."
That’s certainly the case with Dougherty, while for Monty he fears his luck may have run out.
How lucky, or unlucky are you at golf? Tell us your experiences on the forum.
