The Open / Dan Fitch / 29 June 2011 /

Dan Fitch looks at the golfers who couldn't cope with the pressure on the final day.

The Open takes place between 14 - 17 July and like all of the major golf championships, it takes an iron nerve to emerge victorious.

Golf history is littered with examples of players who despite looking destined to win a major, lost their nerve at the crucial moment. Here are the five worst golfing meltdowns.

5. Dustin Johnson - US Open - 2010

The 6ft 4" Dustin Johnson had nowhere to hide on the final day of the 2010 US Open, as he quickly let slip a three-stroke lead over the eventual winner Graeme McDowell.

Johnson hit a triple-bogey on the 2nd hole, a double-bogey on the third and a bogey on the fourth, which saw his three-stroke lead morph into a three-stroke deficit behind McDowell. Having lead for 52 holes, Johnson would eventually finish with a round of 82.

4. Doug Sanders - The Open - 1970

Even your average amateur golfer would fancy himself to make a three-foot putt, but when it comes to the 72nd hole of the Open and you've got Jack Nicklaus breathing down your neck, even the simplest tasks become difficult.

In 1970 Doug Sanders just needed to sink a three-footer to be crowned the Open champion. Instead it drifted wide and Sanders then had to suffer the indignity of having to duck out of the way of Nicklaus' putter, as The Golden Bear celebrated forcing a play-off. Nicklaus would win the 18-hole play-off and Sanders never would capture a Major.

3. Rory McIlroy - Masters - 2011

Even the most experienced players can get the jitters on the final day of a major, so perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised when the 21-year old Rory McIlroy went to pieces when leading the Masters earlier this year.

Having become the youngest player to lead the Masters on the first day with a seven-under 65, McIlroy went into the Sunday twelve-under par and four in front. His lead crumbled as he hit the worst score by any golfer leading after the third round of the Masters, with a round of 80. Such an experience would have finished a lesser player's career, but McIlroy proved his credentials by winning the US Open at a canter and is now the favourite to win The Open at [7.0].

2. Greg Norman - Masters - 1996

The then world number one was something of an expert when it came to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but the Masters in 1996 was undoubtedly his meltdown nadir.

Norman went into the final day with a six-stroke lead, only to his a dreadful six over par 78, that saw him beaten by Nick Faldo's score of 67. Even Faldo looked fairly embarrassed to have beaten his rival in such circumstances. Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly summed it up best: "Where there is a Saturday lead for Norman, there are always Sunday banana peels."

1. Jean van de Velde - The Open - 1999

Most of the other players on this list will be bettered remembered for their numerous triumphs than their meltdowns, but the unfortunate Jean van de Velde is destined to forever be best known for throwing away The Open in 1999, as he threw caution and his shoes and socks, to the wind.

Needing just a double-bogey on the 18th to become the first Frenchman to win the tournament since 1907, Van de Velde somehow conspired to hit a triple-bogey seven on a hole that he had managed to birdie on the previous two rounds. He was forced into a play-off that was eventually won by Paul Lawrie.

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