Even those who don’t bring it up — Van de Velde’s fellow golfers — are keenly aware of what happened the last time the Open was played at Carnoustie.

“When I was walking up the fairway,” Graeme McDowell said after getting in a few practice holes, “absolutely you’re reminiscing. It’s one of the more notable golf moments of the last 10 years, for all the wrong reasons. It’s one of those where you remember exactly where you were when it happened.”

McDowell was still a teenager, camped out in front of his television after his family had its Sunday dinner.

“I remember feeling sick for the guy,” he said. “It was a painful to watch. You never want to see that happen to any golfer.”

Right after his meltdown, Van de Velde insisted that he had no regrets about the way he played the 18th hole. Eight years later, he largely sticks to that way of thinking — even though he was, and still is, roundly condemned for the swashbuckling way that he attacked the hole with such a comfortable lead.

The driver off the tee, which veered off into a peninsula carved out by the burn. The 2-iron that struck a grandstand and ricocheted straight back into knee-high rough. Instead of chopping out into the fairway with his third shot, he went for the green.

He wound up in the creek instead.

“It’s one shot I would have played differently,” Van de Velde conceded. “You know, people say we learn from experiences. That’s life.”

He rarely watches others playing golf on television, but he’ll be tuned in this week. And, if everything goes according to plan, Van de Velde will get well, qualify for next year’s British Open at Royal Birkdale — and not make a mess of the 72nd hole.

“That’s a date,” he said, just before hanging up the phone. “I’ll see you in Birkdale.”

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