Jean misses star-studded British Open qualifying
Jean Van de Velde was missing today when the most star-studded British Open championship qualifying event in living memory took place at Sunningdale.
But that had nothing to do with him joining the celebrations for Jean-Francois Remesy’s amazing seven-stroke win in the French Open yesterday – the first home victory in the event since 1969.
Van de Velde was among nine players who withdrew their names from the Sunningdale field, deciding that he was not up to 36 holes in a day following his two knee operations.
But for triple-bogeying the final hole of the 1999 British Open, Van de Velde would never have had to worry about qualifying for the tournament again.
He would have been exempt until his 66th birthday.
There are still ways for him to be in the starting line-up at Royal Troon, but since he no longer holds a Tour card it is long odds against.
He would have to be the leading non-exempt player either at this week’s European Open at the K Club in Co Kildare or next week’s Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.
Three other tour winners – Robert Karlsson, Soren Kjeldsen and Thongchai Jaidee – were among the other withdrawals from the qualifier and an angry 2001 Volvo PGA champion Andrew Oldcorn did not even enter it.
There were 120 players battling for 15 places and they included over 50 tournament winners, among them Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Jose Maria Olazabal and Justin Rose.
Remesy, meanwhile, looks virtually certain to qualify for the British Open from a mini-Order of Merit which has been running since mid-May.
Not only that, the 40-year-old has a great chance to qualify for the Ryder Cup. He shot up from 24th to seventh in the points race by leaving the rest for dead at Le Golf National near Paris.
The biggest win of the European season so far completes a fairytale for a player who at the end of 1998, after 12 consecutive visits to the qualifying school, thought about giving up the sport.
“I don’t realise for the moment what this means,” he said after being thrown into the lake by the final green.
“The reaction (from the crowd) was just unbelievable. If I look back a few years I could not imagine I could win this tournament. After a major I cannot win bigger.
“The pressure was unbelievable and it’s fantastic for me and for the people who support me.”
