DP World Tour : Husqvarna British Masters Tee Times
EDIT>>>> Love him or hate him and he has plenty of both, England's Nick Faldo's golfing record speaks for itself, so much so he was offered Britain's highest civilian honour when he was knighted by the Queen, November 10, 2009 for his "exceptional services to golf"
In many respects the UK was and always will be 4 fiercely proud, different nations, still to this day has a fractious class system, against this background Faldo was their best golfer from his 4 stints as world #1 from 1990 -1994, 97 weeks in all.
Some detractors saw him as a whining, self absorbed, prat with his private marital life splashed all over the tabloids, others as a tall, handsome, exceptionally talented golfing hero.
This week he has lent his name as 'host" of the British Masters at the historic Belfry GC., where his "services to the game" will be celebrated.... Bryan Angus
This year sees our host of the Husqvarna British Masters Sir Nick Faldo celebrate 50 years since he turned professional.
Across those five decades he has won 30 DP World Tour titles including six Major Championships, played in 11 consecutive Ryder Cups, winning four, served as Ryder Cup Captain and spent 97 weeks as World Number One.
We caught up with him at The Belfry to take a whistle stop tour through his life in golf, highlighting five of his most significant victories.
EARLY YEARS
Born in 1957, Faldo did not have an interest in golf until he saw Jack Nicklaus playing in the 1971 Masters and after that, there was no looking back.
After an amateur career that saw him win the 1975 English Amateur and have a brief, unhappy spell at the University of Houston, Faldo turned professional in on April 14, 1976 and made his DP World Tour debut with a tie for 38th at the French Open.
"My first goal that first year was to finish in the top 60, that got you exempt, so I did the Monday Qualifying a couple of times like everybody else," he said. "That was number one goal of the season and I finished 58th with the massive sum of just over £2,000, which is hilarious now.
"So that was the start, that was the first year."
After five top tens the following season, he was a winner in August.
1977 - Skol Lager Individual
A limited-field, 36-hole event with a team element, 1977 saw the fourth and final edition of the Skol Lager Individual played over the King's Course at The Gleneagles Hotel.
Faldo shared the lead after an opening 68 before a closing 71 left the door open at -5 and he was reeled in by Craig Defoy and Chris Witcher.
But he would not be denied a maiden professional victory and a birdie on the first play-off hole set in motion a run of form that would see him finish in the top ten on the Order of Merit that season.
"I'm a big believer that you climb rungs of a ladder," he said. "I won a lot as an amateur and then it's kind of nice to know what you're doing when you're trying to win.
1977 -1984
Just weeks later he would become the youngest player in Ryder Cup history, winning three points from three including a singles triumph against reigning Masters and Open champion Tom Watson.
And then in 1978 he would the win the first of three - of what is now the BMW PGA Championships- in four years, a tally he would later take to a record four.
"I won four PGAs," he said. "That was very important. I won at Birkdale, Royal St George's then Ganton and then at Wentworth. Birkdale was my first 72-hole win in 1978 which I think is very important."
He would win a further seven DP World Tour events by the middle of 1984, including three in consectuive weeks in May 1983 as he won the Order of Merit.
A maiden PGA TOUR win also came in 1984 at the now RBC Heritage and Faldo's stock could not be much higher - but a big change was coming.
CHANGING THE SWING
The rebuild was brutal," he said of the two-years of work to remodel his swing. "I never expected it to go that long or that deep or that dark. I called it the dark days because I came off being European Number One in 1983 and won in America in 84 and then I decided my game's not good enough. I've got to work on this trajectory thing and be a better ball striker.
1987 Peugeot Spanish Open
In the two years Faldo had worked with David Leadbetter on the rebuild many doubters had emerged but in May of 1987 he went a long way to silencing them with victory in Marbella.
On a week of tough scoring, he sandwiched a pair of 71s with a pair of 72s to finish at -2 the only player under par, and keep the great Seve Ballesteros and South African Hugh Baiocchi at bay for the win.
"Something clicked in the spring just before Augusta," he said. "I played Hattiesburg that Augusta week, and I shot four 67s, finished second and that was kind of the click.
"I went back to Europe and won in Spain. Seve was there chasing me and that was that little bit of trust or belief that I can do it and that was huge before The Open.
"To win in Spain after going through the rebuild was a great relief, really. It was nice to clear the air, and if you can fend off Seve in Spain to win, that made me feel good."
After three years without a win, Faldo once again looked capable of winning at will and claimed back-to-back top fives in France and Belgium as The Open Championship at Muirfield approached.
1987 - Open Championship
Faldo was in the mix from the get-go at Muirfield, but it was Paul Azinger who led by one going into a final day that has gone down in golfing folklore.
With heavy mist shrouding the course, Faldo remarkably made 18 pars as Azinger endured a roller coaster 73.
The American led by three at the turn but bogeyed the tenth, 11th and 17th as Faldo set the target at -5 and when he failed to get up and down from the sand on the last, it was the Englishman who had the Claret Jug and a first Major Championship.
"Muirfield was the next step," he said. "We were at Gleneagles the week before which is a great place to practise. I was swinging well and preparing my mind golf-wise as well ready for Muirfield and the wind.
"I had the famous day with the 18 pars in that weather and the word that came to me was relief. It wasn't leaping up and down, all that hard work had paid off and I'd finally done it and I was good enough to hang onto it. That's really it: can you mentally hang one and finish it off?
"Winning a Major was a whole different feeling, playing under that intensity.
PLAYING GREAT
Faldo would claim 3½ points alongside Ian Woosnam in Europe's historic away victory in the Ryder Cup later in 1987 and came close to holding two Majors at once, losing out to Curtis Strange in a play-off at the 1988 U.S. Open.
It was not long until he did have another Major Championship, this time triumphing in a play-off over Scott Hoch on the 11th at the 1989 Masters, the same year he won the French Open for the third season in a row, another DP World Tour record he shares.
1990 - Masters Tournament
Only his original idol Nicklaus had successfully defended at Augusta National before and it was fitting that Faldo would play the final round alongside the Golden Bear.
But he double-bogeyed the first and when Raymond Floyd birdied Golden Bell, the 1976 champion was four clear with six to play.
Faldo, however, would birdie the 13th, 15th and 16th and with Floyd dropping a shot on the penultimate hole, it was to be a play-off again.
Both men birdied the tenth in sudden death but after Floyd found the water, Faldo claimed another Green Jacket with a relatively fuss-free par on the treacherous 11th.
"In the play-off was a very weird feeling because I'm thinking, am I going to wreck my memories of winning my first Masters on the 11th? You don't want to win and then lose it.
"That was all part of the motivation to do it, I remember I said to myself: 'I'm not giving up my Jacket. I'm not going to put my Jacket on Ray Floyd'.
"I'm now one of four and I'm still very proud of that."
Now a three-time Major winner, Faldo was truly among the game's elite and after finishing third at the U.S. Open, he made it two in a year as he once again won the Claret Jug.
He would become World Number One for the first time in 1990 and held the position for 81 consecutive weeks after winning his fifth Major Championship at The Open in 1992.
He also replicated his French Open heroics as he lifted the trophy at the Irish Open in 1991, 92 and 93.
"Winning the three in a row at the Irish Open was fun," he said. "We loved the Irish Open. It was probably the best atmosphere tournament in the world outside the Majors."
But just one professional win in each of 1994 and 1995 - a small return by his astronomical standards - meant by the time the Masters came around in 1996, he had two weeks earlier dropped out of the world top ten for the first time in the 90s.
1996 Masters Tournament
He was back at world #9 as he drove down Magnolia Lane but he admits his preparations that week were far from ideal.
"I arrived and we played the back nine and I was having problems with my swing and I skied the tee shot on ten and skied it on 11 and I was so pissed off and we actually waked in from the 12th tee," he said. "I said let's go back to the practice ground because I was too violent with my transition.
"I was visualising the golf ball was a soap bubble that I didn't want to burst. Can I hit a golf ball without hurting it?
"The funny bit was I then get drawn day one with John Daly – he's trying to grip it and kill it and I'm just trying to not hurt the blooming thing.
"I shot 69 that first day and that just cleared the air and then I shot 67 and I'm playing the weekend with Greg."
Greg Norman had beaten Faldo to the 1993 Open title with a brilliant closing 64 and the duo found themselves in the final group on Masters Sunday three years later.
Nobody was expecting much of a contest, with the Australian a heavy favourite to convert his six-shot lead into a wire-to-wire victory, and he still led by three after eight holes.
"Some guys have lost three-shot leads so that was my number. I had a nice simple goal, get within three after nine and I'm in it, anything can happen."
THE COLLAPSE
Norman would go bogey-bogey-bogey from the ninth and when he found the water at the 12th for a double, Faldo led by two.
Both men birdied the par-five 13th and 15th before more water trouble brought another Norman double on the 16th and Faldo birdied the last to seal a five-shot win, carding a 67 to his rival's 78.
"I hit 17 greens at Augusta on a Sunday, not many will do that," he said.
Most remember it was one of the biggest collapses in Masters history by Norman, who had been faultless all week.
THE TIGER ERA
Faldo would claim one more professional solo win on the PGA TOUR in 1997, a month before he put the Green Jacket on the shoulders of Tiger Woods - a moment now that seems almost symbolic of one era ending and another beginning.
He would also play an 11th Ryder Cup later that year as a captain's pick, winning two points alongside rookie Lee Westwood to take his career tally to a then record 25 from 46 matches.
His final DP World Tour appearance would come just under a decade later at the South African Open and in 2008 he captained the European Ryder Cup team at Valhalla.
BROADCASTING
A career in broadcasting and course design would follow, while the Faldo Series and Faldo Futures has helped the careers of the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Danny Willett, Yani Tseng and Mel Reid.
While Sir Nick's 50 years in the golfing limelight will always be remembered for Green Jackets, Claret Jugs and Ryder Cups, it has unquestionably been more than that.
It has been 50 years of love for and service to the game, which continues this week as he is our host at The Belfry.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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