1999 Open Championship: Paul Lawrie wins at Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship Course)
Paul Lawrie won the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship Course), Scotland with 290, beating Justin Leonard and Jean van de Velde in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1999 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 15 July 1999 to 18 July 1999
- Course
- Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship Course), Scotland
- Edition
- 128th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 71
- Field
- 156
- Made the cut
- 73 (cut at 154)
- Purse
- £2,000,000 · winner's share £350,000
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Paul Lawrie · age 30 · Scotland · born Aberdeen, Scotland
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- World ranking entering
- No. 241
- How he got in
- qualifier (Final Qualifying, Downfield)
- Winning score
- 73-74-76-67 = 290
- Runners-up
- Justin Leonard (290), Jean van de Velde (290)
- 54-hole leader
- Jean van de Velde (213) · Paul Lawrie was 10 strokes back
- Playoff
- 4-hole aggregate; beat Justin Leonard; Jean van de Velde; Lawrie 15; Leonard 18; Van de Velde 18
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round 4
Top 14 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Lawrie | 73 | 74 | 76 | 67 | 290 | +6 |
| T2 | Jean van de Velde | 75 | 68 | 70 | 77 | 290 | +6 |
| T2 | Justin Leonard | 73 | 74 | 71 | 72 | 290 | +6 |
| T4 | Ángel Cabrera | 75 | 69 | 77 | 70 | 291 | +7 |
| T4 | Craig Parry | 76 | 75 | 67 | 73 | 291 | +7 |
| 6 | Greg Norman | 76 | 70 | 75 | 72 | 293 | +9 |
| T7 | David Frost | 80 | 69 | 71 | 74 | 294 | +10 |
| T7 | Davis Love III | 74 | 74 | 77 | 69 | 294 | +10 |
| T7 | Tiger Woods | 74 | 72 | 74 | 74 | 294 | +10 |
| T10 | Hal Sutton | 73 | 78 | 72 | 72 | 295 | +11 |
| T10 | Jim Furyk | 78 | 71 | 76 | 70 | 295 | +11 |
| T10 | Retief Goosen | 76 | 75 | 73 | 71 | 295 | +11 |
| T10 | Scott Dunlap | 72 | 77 | 76 | 70 | 295 | +11 |
| T10 | Jesper Parnevik | 74 | 71 | 78 | 72 | 295 | +11 |
What happened at the 1999 Open Championship
Van de Velde stood on the 18th tee three strokes clear. His approach hit the grandstand, he went into the Barry Burn and made a triple-bogey 7 to fall into the playoff.
Lawrie started the final round 10 strokes behind, a major-championship comeback record, closed with 67, then birdied the 17th and 18th in the playoff.
Van de Velde led by three on the 72nd tee, but his approach bounced off a grandstand railing, he went into the Barry Burn and made a triple-bogey 7 to fall into the playoff Lawrie won.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's The Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: the-open.json (The Open room's data), with GNN's Open Championship addendum tables L (top ten by round), H (deciding hole), W (final-day weather).