No one epitomises the unpredictable nature of golf better than Jean Van de Velde.
He will forever be remembered as the man who nearly won the British Open, when he lead the 1999 championship at Carnoustie by three shots playing the 72nd hole only to take a triple-bogey seven and then lose in a play-off to Scotland's Paul Lawrie.
To make matters worse, two years ago he had to have ligament and cartilage reconstructive surgery carried out on his right leg, but is he unhappy? Far from it.
'My partner and I are having our first child in three weeks' time and I can't wait,' the Frenchman said. 'It helps to keep things in context. Golf is my job and my passion but there are more things to life.
'I basically couldn't walk for two years because of the surgery so you take a lot for granted. The life that I had on the golf course could have stopped very quickly.
'I've learned the value of good health, and what a joy it is to be able to go out there on the first tee and just play.'
Inevitably this talk of bad times brought up the ghosts of Carnoustie but Van de Velde reiterated that it held no nightmares for him.