Five who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory
When you're so far ahead of the rest of the field, the last hurdle can sometimes be the toughest.
Following Dustin Johnson's dramatic relinquish of his US Open lead in Washington on Sunday, Lewis Cox looks at five other sporting stars who have let a title agonizingly slip through their fingers.
1. Jean van de Velde, 1999.
The Frenchman is the epitome of how things can go from bad to very, very much worse. Requiring only a double-bogey six at Carnoustie to become the first French player to win The Open since 1907, he drove his tee shot wildly right into the growth and after a number of shots had succeeded only in ending up in the Barry Burn waters and then finding the bunker. The picture of him with trousers rolled up stood in the burn has haunted him ever since.
2. Devon Loch, 1956.
Such a dramatic sporting choke that it has spurned a metaphor. Doing a 'Devon Loch' is now used to explain a last minute failure or unexpected victory after the Queen Mother's horse appeared to try to jump an invisible fence on the home run during the Grand National with jockey-turned-writer Dick Francis on board.
3. Liverpool, 1989.
Arsenal visited Anfield on the final day of the 1988/1989 First Division season needing to win by two goals to claim the title, Alan Smith notched the north London side ahead early in the second half, but it seemed like the Merseysiders would cling on and secure the silverware. Cue Michael Thomas with seconds left, surging through the Liverpool defence to score with 25 seconds remaining to win the league.
4. Wolves, 2002.
The Baggies finished the season in the second automatic promotion spot, behind champions Manchester City. But it should have been Dave Jones' Wolves.
A tale of almost the unbelievable between the fierce rivals. Wolves were flying and going into March five points clear of City, who had two games in hand, and a massive 10 points clear of their Black Country neighbours. The choke is almost unfathomable, Jones' men won just two from nine and were leapfrogged by Albion. They lost all momentum and crashed out of the play-offs.
5. Jana Novotna, 1993.
Czech star Novotna was facing 22-Slam winner Steffi Graf. No matter, Novotna made light work of the German after dropping a tight first set 6-7, went 6-1, 4-1 up and was 40-30 and within a shot of a championship-winning game. She double-faulted and within 10 minutes Graff had clawed back and claimed a fifth Wimbledon crown, leaving Novotna in floods of tears
