Off With His Golf Shoes and Socks!
I cannot believe that I could ever forget this… Who didn’t see this event and cringe?! It was more likely to put me behind the sofa than Doctor Who ever was! I was just reminded of it and of course it’s a great candidate for a NO GOLF SHOES story! When he took off his golf shoes and got into the burn - and even worse, all the pictures that I can now find make him look like Mr Bean!
Jean van der Velde suffered at Carnoustie… he was leading The Open (comfortably!) when on the last hole he hit his ball twice into Barry Burn and thought about playing it from the brook. He took off his golf shoes and his socks and climbed in. This prompted commentator Peter Alliss to say “This is really beyond a joke – he’s gone ga-ga!” He eventually took a drop & hit into a bunker before getting up and down for a seven. He ended up losing out to Paul Lawrie in a 3-way play off.
Apparently the whole thing was a big controversy with Alliss being accused of lacking a sense of humour. However a newspaper poll showed that readers/viewers entirely agreed!
Fancy that for timing!
I have just read hot off the wire that Greg Norman just had a similar experience though not quite so dramatic! According to the Australian News “Norman started yesterday at three-over but he stormed out of the blocks with three birdies on the front nine, raising hopes he would make the cut. However, his round unravelled in spectacular fashion on the par-five 10th…
After splitting the fairway with his drive, Norman was forced to remove his shoes and socks after his second shot flirted with the water. He eventually walked off with an ugly double bogey, undoing his early good work. Another bogey at the par-three 13th had him back where he started the day — three over and in need of a miracle to make the cut.”
Which he didn’t!