Van de Velde Breezing With a Five-Shot Lead

By THOMAS BONK

July 18, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland —

There are so many questions and so little time at the British Open here at wind-swept Carnoustie, where golf’s oldest major championship is absolutely, positively, for sure going to be won today by, well, somebody . . . right?

But first, the questions:

* Is it possible Jean Van de Velde of France gets lost with a five-shot lead and can’t tell the North Sea from the River Seine?

* Is Justin Leonard, who made them swoon in Troon, due for another major victory two years later?

* Can Tiger Woods recover from a no-birdie day and make up seven shots in a hurry?

* Can a guy like David Frost, who happens to have the same name as a weather condition, win on a course where weather is often the most important factor?

* Can 5-foot-6 Craig Parry see out of enough bunkers to win?

* Can Andrew Coltart win . . . and who is Andrew Coltart?

By the time the last corporate hospitality tent blew over Saturday, the third-round lead still belonged to Van de Velde, the 33-year-old from Saint-Martin, France, who managed a one-under 70 despite blustery winds and numbing pressure.

Van de Velde spent more time in the sand traps than a bunker rake, but still turned in one of only three below-par rounds that Carnoustie allowed on yet another day of gusty winds that played havoc with golf balls every time they entered Scottish airspace.

With a 54-hole total of even-par 213, Van de Velde starts the day with a five-shot lead over Leonard and Parry and seven shots over Woods, Frost and Coltart. Greg Norman and Angel Cabrera are eight shots behind.

Even with some of golf’s grandest names trying to chase him down, Van de Velde didn’t seem nervous. He made the most out of his round by making two monster birdie putts--a 70-footer on No. 14 and a 45-footer at No. 18.

Perhaps a key to his round came on the par-four 11th when he drove his ball into deep rough on the right, then asked for a drop because a television tower was blocking his line. He got a favorable ruling, played out to the fairway, chipped onto the green and made his par.

Afterward, Van de Velde considered today’s possibilities.

“It’s the biggest tournament ever in the world and I’m leading, what can happen?” he said. “I can lose it or I can win it. Either way, I’m having a good time. That’s the main thing.

“I know there are a lot better players than me who have had a more commanding lead and still lost.

“Maybe I am going to blow it tomorrow. What do you expect? I’m not the No. 1 player in the world . . . not yet.”

Besides revealing himself to be the best putter in the field--Van de Velde needed only 23 putts Saturday--he also showed a finely tuned sense of humor. That might come in handy if things actually do fall apart today.

For instance, Van de Velde said he certainly will be thinking a lot about his situation because “my IQ is a little bit over 10” and that he knows what his duties are with his sponsor, the Euro Disney course outside Paris. Said Van de Velde: “I basically have to test all the rides and go around with all the costumed characters.”

Today’s ride around Carnoustie is likely to be a bumpy one for everyone concerned.

Leonard played the back in two over, but his 71 and five-over total of 218 still left him with a shot at his second major title.

“I felt like I could come over and have a good week,” Leonard said. “It wasn’t going to rip me up if I didn’t play well. But you know I felt like I did the right things to prepare.”

The preparation Parry made for his 67 was different. He credited his breakfast of pancakes for the low round of the tournament, helped by a fast start with birdies on three of the first six holes.

Coltart, 29, a Scot who lives in England, has won once in nine years on the European PGA Tour. But his 72 tied him with Woods and Frost at seven-over 220.

Frost, who had a 71, is trying to improve on a British Open record that shows only two top-10 finishes in 15 tries, none since 1988. The 39-year-old South African who lives in Dallas has been struggling to make up ground since he opened with an 80.

As for Woods, his situation has been different. He began the day three shots back and ended it seven behind after a no-birdie, one-bogey, one-double bogey round.

The double bogey Woods made at No. 17, when he missed the fairway and missed the green, was his first of the tournament. There can’t be any more if he’s going to catch up.

As for what Woods needs to do, the answer is simple. He must post a low score and then see if Van de Velde collapses.

“Anyone who gets a lead like that has got to sleep on it,” Woods said of the leader. “That’s not always easy to do. Anything can happen. He knows this golf course is very penal.

“He’s been playing wonderful golf. From where I stand, there’s really no way I can go out and shoot a low number and if he stays at par can I catch him. I need him coming back to me a little bit.”

Then there was the case of Colin Montgomerie, who declared himself out of the tournament Friday only to find himself right back in it, sort of, on Saturday.

Montgomerie bogeyed three of the last four holes and still managed a one-over 72 . . . so why did he say he had no chance the day before?

“All I was trying to do was to deflect the situation away from the amount of pressure and the amount of media attention and everything that goes on about winning in Scotland,” Montgomerie said.

In other words, he lied. Hey, we’re all hurt. Actually, it probably doesn’t matter, because the odds are that Montgomerie is too far back at nine-over 222.

However, stranger things have happened. And one of the strangest would be a French player winning the British Open for the first time in 92 years.

It just isn’t your everyday occurrence, since French golfers win major titles about as often as French bakeries run out of bread.

We know that French athletes have won soccer’s World Cup, tennis’ French Open and cycling’s Tour de France, but that one British Open title by Arnaud Massy in 1907 represents the country’s only victory in the history of major golf championships.

Not that anyone is counting, of course.

“At the end, if I make it, then I will be the British Open winner and I’m still going to go home and I’m going to have great fun at home with my friends, no matter what,” Van de Velde said. “I have the opportunity. And that’s what everyone wants.”

In a British Open that has been short on answers, there’s no question about that.

THE SCORES / THROUGH 54 HOLES

LEADERS

Jean Van de Velde: 75-68-70--213 E

Justin Leonard: 73-74-71--218 +5

Craig Parry: 76-75-67--218 +5

David Frost: 80-69-71--220 +7

Andrew Coltart: 74-74-72--220 +7

Tiger Woods: 74-72-74--220 +7

****

OTHERS

Greg Norman: 76-70-75--221 +8