Ailing Van de Velde to miss Open

The Frenchman, 41, has withdrawn from the Scottish Open next week, his last chance to qualify for the major.

Van de Velde has been suffering from a mystery complaint and started feeling ill after April's Portuguese Open.

He is still remembered for letting slip what looked like a certain winning position the last time the Open was played at Carnoustie in 1999.

The illness, which causes sickness and fatigue, forced him to pull out of last Monday's international final qualifying and the Scottish Open was his only route to Carnoustie.

Van de Velde went for tests on Tuesday but even though they proved inconclusive he feels not fit enough to play the Loch Lomond event which he needed to win to qualify for the Open.

Manager Jamie Cunningham said: "The tests are still not clear and he will be going for more, but Jean doesn't feel he can compete next week. In fact he's not even sure he can play four rounds.

"He is obviously crushingly disappointed because he knows just what that means."

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