In 1999: In one of the biggest meltdowns in sports history, Jean Van de Velde of France triple-bogeyed the final hole at the British Open, thus forcing a playoff with Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard at Carnoustie in Scotland. Van de Velde only needed a six on 18 to win. His tee shot went left, his second shot hit the grandstand, his third went into the water (where he actually took off his shoes and rolled up his pants as if to play it out of the water), his next shot chunked into the deeper rough and he barely recovered to “force” the playoff. He never regained his composure, and Lawrie became the first Scot to win on his home turf since 1931. Down 10 shots at the beginning of the rfinal ound, his comeback was the largest in major history. Curtis Strange, covering the tournament for ABC, summed it up perfectly, saying, “this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Also in 1999: On a day when Don Larsen was on hand at Yankee stadium to throw out the first pitch, David Cone went out and mimicked the former Yankee World Series hero by throwing a perfect game. Cone did not allow a single base runner as the Yankees blanked the Montreal Expos 6-0. Cone only threw 88 pitches, 68 of them strikes. It was the 14th perfect game in Major League history and the second in Yankee Stadium in two years (David Wells did it in 1998).