Carnoustie, Scotland … When Jean Van De Velde says he believes Jordan Spieth will get over his Masters meltdown, the Frenchman knows what he is talking about.

Van De Velde wrote his name into Open Championship folklore in July 1999 with the sight of his trousers rolled-up, standing in Barry Burn that cuts across the 18th fairway at Carnoustie in Scotland.

Moments earlier Van de Velde had stepped onto the final tee of the 1999 Open leading by three shots and needing only to record, as worst, a double bogey ‘6’ down the last to become the first Frenchman since 1907 to capture golf’s oldest Major.

He had birdied the 18th hole in two of three prior rounds.

In began to sprinkle with rain when Van de Velde chose driver off the tee.  He then put his tee shot well right of the fairway and rather than lay-up with his second, he decided to go for the green only to come horribly unstuck with his second shot that first ricocheted off a grandstand and then off the top of a stone wall of the Barry Burn and then canon some 50-yards backward into knee-high rough.

Frenchman Jean Van de Velde says he can sympathise with double Major winning Jordan Spieth.

He then put his third into the Burn before removing his shoes and socks and stepping down into the water hazard contemplating whether or not to play the shot, and all the time with the tide coming in and increasing the water level.

Van de Velde decided instead to take a penalty drop from where he found a greenside bunker before bravely managing to get his sixth shot onto the green and some six feet from the hole before holing the putt for a triple bogey ‘7’.

It put him into a three-way play-off with American Justin Leonard and Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, and with Lawrie eventually winning the play-off.”

And just last fortnight, and bizarrely on the 20th anniversary of Australian Greg Norman’s demise at the 1996 Masters, the golfing world witnessed Spieth, and the Masters defending champion, lose all hope of successfully defending his Augusta title after agonisingly putting two balls into the water at the par three 12th hole, and a mishap that eventually saw England’s Danny Willett fitted by Spieth with the green jacket.

And Van de Velde can clearly sympathise with the 22-year old Texan.

“Jordan is an extraordinary player who has an extraordinary head on his shoulders,” and he will get over it extremely quickly and when he does he will become stronger and stronger,” said Van de Velde.

Jordan Spieth in trouble during the defence of his Masters titlel

“Trust me, you can’t believe how fast everything is happening when that guy is you.

“That’s what I love about golf. It slaps you on the finger five minutes after the biggest high you could ever think of.”

Van de Velde was speaking from his residence in Hong Kong earlier today to reporters at Carnoustie in Scotland with news he will make his European Tour Seniors Tour debut at the British Seniors Open starting from July 21st at Carnoustie.

And the affable Frenchman, who in fact turns 50 on May 29th, says he has no qualms in returning to Carnoustie 17 years on from his infamous golfing meltdown.

“It did take me a few days to find my sleep again after the Sunday at Carnoustie, due to the stress, the adrenaline, the rush, trying to analyse it or whatever,” he said.

“But after that, I have never once woken me up in a cold sweat, and has never given me difficulty finding sleep. Ever.

“However, I know it is part of history. There were quite a viewers that day, 250-300 million, so it would take me a while if I met all them and answered their questions about that day.”