WHENEVER a Frenchman sets foot on Carnoustie, you almost feel like the sky should darken, the temperature should plummet and dogs should start howling as the golfing ghosts of 1999 rise up from the Barry Burn.
Jean van de Velde's calamitous capers during that year's Open Championship can still evoke a sense of the heebie jeebies, after all, but Romain Langasque performed something of an exorcism yesterday.
With an impressive display of flair and finesse, the 20-year-old from the outskirts of Nice claimed the 120th Amateur Championship with a 4&2 victory over Scotland's Grant Forrest. Following Bradley Neil's triumph at Portrush 12 months ago, Forrest was aiming to secure successive Scottish triumphs in the event for the first time since 1898. That Caledonian connection was undone by a French redemption over the Angus links.
Seven up at one stage of the 36-hole final, Langasque didn't quite enjoy a carefree procession over the finishing line as Forrest rallied and reduced the leeway to three holes with just three to play. On the 34th, though, the Scot's well-struck 3-iron pitched straight at the flag but didn't hold the green and dribbled agonisingly over the back. Langasque then whipped a superbly flighted 4-iron into about 10 feet. "In the circumstances, it couldn't have been a better shot," he noted. Forrest's salvage operation didn't go to plan and he conceded the hole and the match as Langasque became just the third Frenchman, after Philippe Ploujoux in 1981 and Julien Guerrier in 2006, to land the unpaid game's biggest prize.
An invitation to next month's Open at St Andrews has already been extended while he can expect tee-times for the Masters and the US Open in 2016. He may not take those latter two up, mind you. "I may have turned pro by then," he admitted. "I was going to turn pro in three weeks but I will wait to play in the Open. As for the Masters? I will need to talk to my coach about the future."
There was another perk for winning that arrived on a text message from French Ryder Cup player, Victor Dubuisson. "Victor said 'I will pay for the party and you can drive my Lamborghini'," added Langasque with a smile.
Langasque had grabbed the final by the scruff of the neck in the morning when he hit Forrest with a fearsome barrage of birdies at the eighth, ninth and 10th which helped him on his way to a commanding five-hole advantage. When Langasque knifed his bunker shot out of bounds on the 18th, his lead was reduced to three at lunch but any hopes Forrest had of mounting an early charge in the afternoon were swiftly thwarted.
He plunged his opening tee-shot into a bush down the left and could only hack away at it before pulling his approach at the next into the rough which led to another damaging bogey.
Seven down after 23 holes, Forrest looked felled but he slowly inched his way back as the holes began to run out. A raking putt of 60 feet for an eagle on the 30th got the former Scottish Amateur champion to within four holes and it was down to three with a birdie on the 32nd.
Langasque launched a superb 7-iron recovery on to the green from the fairway bunker on the next to halve the hole before closing out the match on the 34th.
"When I got it back to three holes at lunch, it was manageable but the start in the afternoon killed me," lamented Forrest.
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