Q&A: Why is France’s Jean Van de Velde, who nearly won the 1999 British Open, teaching golf in Mexico?

I flew to Mexico for a golf lesson from a Frenchman.

That’s where Jean Van de Velde, the affable golfer who once nearly had both hands on the Claret Jug but let it slip away in dramatic fashion is living and working these days, heading up the Jean Van de Velde Golf Academy at Punta Minta, located on the southernmost point of the Riviera Nayarit, 30 miles northwest of the resort city of Puerto Vallarta.