The Bitter Ends

By JIM HODGES

July 20, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

In trying to dim the glow of a five-shot lead in the British Open at Carnoustie, Jean Van de Velde grew prescient.

“I know there are a lot better players than me who have had a more commanding lead and still lost,” he said following the third round.

Yep, but not many, and no one has held a bigger edge in a major tournament over an eventual winner than the 10 shots he had built over Scotland’s Paul Lawrie going into the final round. Or the three shots Van de Velde had on the field as he stepped up to the 18th tee Sunday afternoon.

Better players? Well, there was Greg Norman. He held a six-shot lead going into the final round of the 1996 Masters, shot 78 and lost by five strokes to Nick Faldo.

After beating Norman, Faldo (once nicknamed “Foldo”) put the whole thing in perspective, perhaps for all chokers, perhaps for all time.

“What he’s been through is horrible,” Faldo said. “It’s hard to be plastered and repair that. I honestly, genuinely feel sorry for him. He’s had a real tough ride today.”

Van de Velde’s collapse is the latest in an infamous list.

There was Sam Snead.

And Ken Venturi and Mike Souchak.

And Jana Novotna, to switch courts.

And the 1995 Angels, to bring things home.

And the 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1964 Philadelphia Phillies, 1969 Chicago Cubs and 1978 Boston Red Sox.

And the 1974 Notre Dame football team, for an autumn tale often told at USC.

And the 1992 Houston Oilers.

And Laurent Fignon in the 1989 Tour de France.

Snead’s claims to fame are his swing, his ability to win and his inability to exorcise demons in the U.S. Open, which can be fixed to a date: June 12, 1939.

Snead needed only a par at the par-four 72nd hole at the Philadelphia Country Club’s Spring Mill Course to win the U.S. Open.

A bogey would have put him in a four-way playoff.

It was before the information age. Snead believed he needed a birdie to win, so he pulled out his driver and hooked the ball into some wilderness; banged a two-wood from there into a fairway bunker; stayed in the sand with an eight-iron; banged another eight-iron into a bunker and was told by someone in the gallery that if he could get down in two, he could still tie for the lead.

A blast to 30 feet and a putt by the hole later, that was lost. Two disgruntled putts finished Snead’s eight and his round of 74.

Nelson beat Craig Wood and Denny Shute in a playoff the next day.

“It weighed on my mind so much that I dropped 10 pounds, lost more hair and began to choke even in practice rounds,” Snead said. My doctor said I was headed for a nervous breakdown.”

He recovered for a marvelous career, that went into hiatus every time a U.S. Open was played.

Years later, Venturi, then an amateur, blew a lead in the 1956 Masters and Jackie Burke made up eight shots on the final day to win.

And Souchak took a page out of Snead’s book in the 1960 U.S. Open. Leading Arnold Palmer by seven shots going into the final round at Cherry Hills in Denver, Souchak tried to drive the short par-four first hole and pulled his ball into a ditch. He eventually made six on a hole Palmer birdied.

Palmer shot 65, finished at 280 and won the U.S. Open.

Souchak shot 75.

But that collapse was gradual compared to one suffered by Novotna at Wimbledon in 1993.

She was ahead, 4-1, in the third set of the final after winning the second, 6-1; playing No. 1-ranked Steffi Graf in the 100th Wimbledon, and serving for game point.

And Novotna double-faulted . . . and then hit a high forehand nearly into the Royal Box . . . then hit an overhead into the net.

And lost the match, 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4.

Graf’s assessment, had she been in the same situation?

“You choked,” she said. “I would be very, very disappointed with myself, obviously, and probably would have that feeling, yes.”

The 1995 Angels led the AL West by 10 1/2 games on Aug. 16, losing 28 of 37 games, then winning their last five and six of seven to force a playoff.

“If we lose, we’re still going to be labeled as a team that blew the lead,” said Rick Burleson, then the third-base coach.

It might as well be embroidered on their uniforms. They lost to the Mariners, 9-1, and it added to the lore of a team that has yet to play in the World Series.

The 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers led the New York Giants by an astounding 13 1/2 games in August but a Dodger collapse and furious Giant charge led to a three-game playoff.

The playoff series led to Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” home run in the bottom of the ninth off Ralph Branca in game three, perhaps the most famous moment in baseball history. All thanks to a Dodger collapse.

The 1964 Phillies had a 6 1/2-game lead with 12 to play but when they started to go into a tailspin, Manager Gene Mauch decided to go with a two-man rotation of Chris Short and Jim Bunning. The Phillies lost 10 in a row while St. Louis won eight straight and finished ahead of the Phillies by one game.

The 1969 Cubs led the New York Mets by 9 1/2 games on Aug. 16. But they lost eight in a row while the Mets won 10 straight, earning their nickname of “Miracle Mets”.

Say the name Bucky Dent and most baseball fans will think of Fenway Park in 1978, even though Dent was a Yankee shortstop that year. The Red Sox led the Yankees by 8 1/2 games on Aug. 27 but went into a tailspin and had to play a one-game playoff with the Yankees. Dent hit his famous homer into the net above the Green Monster in that playoff game, which made the hard-luck Red Sox losers once again.

And USC’s rally against Notre Dame in 1974 added to the lore that is still recalled as recent by alumni who don’t yet grasp that the Trojans have not won a national championship in 21 years.

The Irish led, 24-0, in the first half, then 24-6 at halftime.

Anthony Davis ran the second-half kickoff for a 102-yard touchdown and the rout was on.

There were 35 third-quarter points, all by USC and enough to break the Coliseum scoreboard.

The final was 55-24.

“We’ve never played a good second half out here,” Irish Coach Ara Parseghian said.

Notre Dame has never played as bad a second half anywhere.

The Houston Oilers would have understood.

They had beaten Buffalo, 27-3, to end the 1992 regular season, then found themselves facing the Bills in the opening round of the playoffs.

They were ahead, 35-3, early in the third quarter at Buffalo. The Bills had Frank Reich playing quarterback instead of Jim Kelly, who was in street clothes and on crutches. Also, the Bills’ best linebacker, Cornelius Bennett, was on the sidelines with an injury.

The final score was Buffalo 41, Houston 38 after Steve Christie’s 32-yard field goal 3:06 into overtime.

Never before had a 32-point lead been blown in an NFL game.

“Choked?” Houston quarterback Warren Moon said. “I will not comment on guys choking. I will give credit to Buffalo for coming back.”

Owner Bud Adams was happy to comment, though, doing so the next day by firing defensive coordinator Jim Eddy and defensive backs coach Pat Thomas.

And four years later, Adams moved his team to Tennessee.

Fignon had the Tour de France wrapped up with a 50-second lead and only one stage remaining in 1989. Just ask him. “Barring an accident, I think I’ve won the Tour,” he said the night before he lost it.

The final stage was a 15.2-mile sprint to the finish. American Greg LeMond began the stage with that 50-second deficit and finished with an eight-second lead and the Tour de France title. He averaged a Tour-record 34-mph in the final stage. Fignon cried after he crossed the line. No cyclist has ever lost such a big lead after a final-stage sprint in the Tour de France.

Van de Velde knows how he feels.

TAKING THE PLUNGE

Some other famous collapses in major sports events:

GREG NORMAN / 1966 Masters

Had six-shot lead going into final round, shot 78 and lost by five strokes to Nick Faldo.

SAM SNEAD / 1939 U.S. Open

On final hole, he needed a par to win, a bogey for a playoff--and made an 8.

JANA NOVOTNA / 1993 Wimbledon

Up 4-1 and serving for game point in third set of women’s final, lost to Steffi Graf, 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4.

ANGELS / 1995

Lost 28 of 42 games and an 10 1/2-game lead in Al West--and then one-game playoff with Seattle.

NOTRE DAME / 1974