You know, we all screw up… some of us just do it at better times. Some of us are unlucky enough to make our screw-ups in front of millions of people. “Capturing a fumble and running it 90 yards for a touchdown only to realize we ran the wrong way.” “Going back on a routine fly ball and having it bounce off our head and over the fence for a home run.” The only difference between those and ours… only our friends remind us; millions are constantly reminding the more famous athletic blunders. With this being our first return to Carnoustie since the biggest blunder in the history of golf, I feel it is my duty, along with every other member of the golf media to write our “Greatest Golf Blunders of All time.”
My list might be different from others you see. Mine comes more from, “Gosh, I feel so sorry for this guy”, rather than “What an idiot.” See I’ve been there, missing the 3 footer to qualify for a USGA event; missing a free throw at the end of a game. So here we go… Heading to the tee first… My Top 6
6. The Screwed-up putt – Doug Sanders, the greatest shoe collector of all time. With 3 feet left on the 72 hole of the 1970 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Sanders, while standing over his putt to beat Jack Nicklaus notices a speck of sand, bends to pick it up without moving his feet. It was a brown blade of grass. He brushes it away but mindlessly does not back off his original set-up and misses the putt. With 20 Tours wins, Sanders has always hated talking about this blunder.
5. Can you count to 14 – Ian Woosnam. I love this one. Why, because most of my friends carry about 20 clubs. Of course none of them ever walk. Woosey had just missed a hole in one on number one at the 2001 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, so he was feeling great. Heck, he was not suppose to be anywhere near the lead, yet there he was atop the board. Standing on #2, his longtime caddie, Mike Byrne whispered, “We’re going to be ballistic…there are two drivers in your bag.” So here’s this 5’4”, bulk of a man, with the veins of his neck bulging to the size of his arms. We know the rest, the guy bogey’s the next couple of holes and adios chica….
4. Doing what he seems to do best – Phil Michelson. Let’s get this straight from the top. THE SCREW-UP WAS NOT OFF THE TEE. Phil had hit nothing but drivers all week; he had not practiced any other shot; he just missed it. Now, we can talk blunder. This is the point at which a caddy must tackle his player (even if he fears being fired) and say, no, hell no, “we punch out.” (Can you picture Tin Cup at this moment)? Phil proceeds to be Phil, makes double-bogey on the 72 hole of the 2006 US Open and losses. One not to remember, he was leading by one at the start of the hole. We will always remember Phil bent over and the words, “I am such an idiot.” Just one problem… he would do it again and will someday.
3. The blunder forgotten – Colin Montgomerie. If I had to pick one guy to hit a 170 yard left to right shot, Colin Montgomerie would be right near the top of my list. I will always have this in my Top 10, mostly because other will not. But, I want to say here and now, that this was just as big a screw-up as Mickelson. Here’s a guy that is known for his great iron play. Here’s a guy that had just birdied 17 at the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot to tie for the lead. Here’s a guy that drives the ball in the middle of the fairway. And here’s a guy that had to wait while Phil, well, why Phil did what Phil does… And Monty, he thinks…and thinks…and over thinks until he, screws up. So while others talk Phil, I will always talk Colin.
2. A 7 for the ages – Jean Van de Velde. Most everyone I know makes this number one. I have two reasons for placing this 3rd and gaining the wrath of my fellow media. First, he hit his second shot exactly where he should have, into the stands. He just got unlucky. (From that point on, he did blunder after blunder.) My second reason for placing this 3rd, .quite simply, the man was suppose to screw-up. See, we will never know, if he had played it safe, if he would have made anything but 7. He had nothing to prove otherwise. The guy had never been close to great. Even Todd Hamilton had won a number of times in Asia. So was it a major screw-up…no question, Van de Velde stood on the 72nd hole at Carnoustie leading the Open Championship by 3 shots. He had birdied 18 in the previous two rounds. Seven shots later, including a very good final putt and a trip to the wash his close as they did he biblical times, Van de Velde ends his Open Championship dream with a thud of the Claret Jug breaking into a billion pieces. But was it the biggest blunder of all time…I think not…
1. There are blunders and then there are BLUNDERS. Take 1968. A forty-five year old former caddy’s assistant from Buenos Aires, Roberto de Vincenzo had just tied Bob Goalby and was headed to a play-off for the Green Jacket. Goalby had played spectacular golf on the backside making birdies at 13 and 14 and an eagle on 16. de Vincenzo answered back with a terrific birdie at 17. Then the word came down… Mr. de Vincenzo, you signed an incorrect scorecard. Tommy Aaron, Roberto’s playing partner had given him a 4 on 17 instead of a 3. Roberto signed the card, thus giving the Argentinean the 4 and losing by one stroke.
There is a side bar to this catastrophe. Unlike most errors that affect a player for his entire career (we will see about Phil), de Vincenzo erased this from his memory and until this year, he was the only South American player to win one of golf’s majors, an Open Championship at Hoylake.
So, that rounds out my list of blunders, excuse me now, I have to go miss another 3 footer.
