Golf-Sick van de Velde undergoes hospital tests in Open week

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland, July 16 (Reuters) Frenchman Jean van de Velde, who snatched British Open defeat from the jaws of victory eight years ago at Carnoustie, will spend this week undergoing hospital examinations into a mystery illness.

Van de Velde, 41, told a news conference by telephone from France that the ailment, coupled with glandular fever, had scuppered any hopes he had of returning to the scene of one of the most memorable slumps in major tournament golf.

Needing only a double-bogey six at the par-four final hole to win the 1999 Open, van de Velde contrived to chalk up a seven after hitting his ball into a burn. He went on to lose a playoff won by Briton Paul Lawrie.

He planned to watch the Open, which begins on Thursday in Carnoustie, on television. ''I've said before that I never watch golf on TV but this one I'm going to definitely look at. I'm very sad I'm not there.'' CONSTANTLY TIRED Memories of his failure were now the least of his worries, he said today, as doctors tried to diagnose an illness which left him constantly tired and sick.

''I couldn't eat,'' he said. ''Everything that I was putting in my stomach was coming back out. I was sleeping 15, 16 hours a day and after that...I've been sick for about a month, vomiting all the time.'' He hoped to hear the results of the hospital examinations in 10 days' time.

Van de Velde, before 1999 a relatively unknown journeyman on the European Tour, sparked a rekindling of interest in golf in his homeland after the drama and he won widespread admiration for the phlegmatic way he dealt with his disappointment.

''It's only a golf hole,'' he said. ''It was only a golf tournament. I think it's going to last at least 15 to 20 years before people stop asking me questions about it. There's probably another 12 to go.'' REUTERS BJR HS1943