Faldo Returns

[scruffynick]

In my previous life, I worked for an oem that sponsored Faldo, and I met him in the mid 90s. All I had ever seen was the golf course robot, so I was shocked to learn he had a personality (a good one) off the course.

Many say that, work was work but away from golf he was a very pleasant guy. Read somewhere, he changed and more relaxed around media people etc when his kids first arrived.

One story that made me laugh was his old caddy Andy prodger in the mid 80s. Andys sole on his shoe had come away and was flapping around making a noise while walking down the fairways. Faldo just asked what's wrong with his shoe/trainer, so Andy showed him. Anyway, faldo went into his bag and there was a few money bungs with elastic bands round them. Pulls off the elastic band so the money was free....Andy thinking 'wow, the gaffer is going to give me some money the buy a new pair of trainer's

Faldo just pasted him the elastic band and told him to put it around his flapping trainer!!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

He did when he was young, had a long willowy swing. But in majors when the pressure was in he felt it broke down. Hence swing rebuild and leadbetter.... To do that with an already successful swing takes some guts, but he wanted to do it to hit the ball lower and straighter and the rest is history.

I think he would have won a major or 2 with his old swing but not 6, and well never know. But seve and faldo are the reason I play golf, just watching them at the Masters and open got me hooked in the late 80s

 

Faldo was the one I wanted to emulate, but secretly I envied Woosnam's swing. Faldo was technical, Woosnam just made it look easy. The same could be said of Lyle, but I think he was already starting to struggle by the time Faldo became the dominant force in European golf.

[TheYipS]

Is he playing with a view to teeing it up at the open maybe? Solid first round anyway great analyst.

[mark m]

He was a precision player. It seems like he just did not adjust (or did not want to adjust) when the equipment changed. He went from 262 driving distance in 1993 to 273 in 2003, while other guys his size like Els, VJ, and Phil all went from around 270 to over 300 yards. Granted he was a little older, but not that old. He kept himself in good shape and seemed like he should have been able to hit it bigger if he wanted to. If you look it up, he averaged 287 or so on only 4 measured tee balls in 2009.

[TheYipS]

He was a precision player. It seems like he just did not adjust (or did not want to adjust) when the equipment changed. He went from 262 driving distance in 1993 to 273 in 2003, while other guys his size like Els, VJ, and Phil all went from around 270 to over 300 yards. Granted he was a little older, but not that old. He kept himself in good shape and seemed like he should have been able to hit it bigger if he wanted to. If you look it up, he averaged 287 or so on only 4 measured tee balls in 2009.

 

He was able to hit it bigger for sure in 1980 he won British long drive championship with a drive of 306 yards edging out Langer who hit it 305. Of course he was a lot younger then but the equipment would have more than negated that I would imagine given he kept himself in good shape as you said.

[mark m]

He was a precision player. It seems like he just did not adjust (or did not want to adjust) when the equipment changed. He went from 262 driving distance in 1993 to 273 in 2003, while other guys his size like Els, VJ, and Phil all went from around 270 to over 300 yards. Granted he was a little older, but not that old. He kept himself in good shape and seemed like he should have been able to hit it bigger if he wanted to. If you look it up, he averaged 287 or so on only 4 measured tee balls in 2009.

 

He was able to hit it bigger for sure in 1980 he won British long drive championship with a drive of 306 yards edging out Langer who hit it 305. Of course he was a lot younger then but the equipment would have more than negated that I would imagine given he kept himself in good shape as you said.

 

I'm not surprised by that. I don't know if he has ever discussed it as I don't follow all this stuff very closely. I'm more of a casual observer. It seemed like he tooled his game to precision, and did not want to go bomb and gouge - and therefore went into announcing. But that is just a guess. I wish him well and will be interested to see if he goes after it when he plays.

[KirkNo-yes]

That is correct when saying he wasn't worried about distance. He played courses based on what shot he felt left him with the best opportunity to minimize trouble. I am honestly stunned he never won a US Open as he is a USGA wet dream when it comes to how they like or think they want you to play the game. Even though he was like a robot and tactician'r I would say he was an artist and he painted his shots onto the course with beautiful strokes.

 

I remember reading somewhere he played for one semester at Univ. of Houston and after that one semester he realized it was not for him and he told the coach he was returning home to play professionally (Dave Williams the "father of college golf") and Coach Williams said good luck you won't make much of a living being a pro...Guess coach williams got that one wrong.

 

The story I was told by a few people that would know its validity said the reason Faldo left was the fact he wasn't getting along with his teammates and didn't like all the team stuff. I won't mention the mans name but the straw that broke the camels back came in a qualifier. Faldo and the man I know who has one of the most successful amateur careers in Texas were paired together in a qualifier and they were playing and from what it sounds like Faldo wasn't taking the entire round very serious. If he missed a putt from 12 feet and it went 3 feet past he would walk up and slap it at the hole and miss some make some but he wasn't treating it like a true competitive round. Him and the guy I know get done and Coach Williams says "how it go"...Faldo says " not bad Coach I shot 72" and the other guys says " No I have you for an 83" and Faldo was livid because the guy was counting every little thing he did ( The guy wasn't a fan of Faldo so he wasn't going to give him so much as an inch. haha

[MountainGoat]

Faldo's game always appealed to me. The grip-it-and-rip-it style just seems crass by comparison. The way Faldo negotiates a course is real artistry. It's the sort of game I aspire to but will never achieve.

[Czervik n Smails]

Faldo better be rocking some butter Mizuno blades.

[scruffynick]

He did when he was young, had a long willowy swing. But in majors when the pressure was in he felt it broke down. Hence swing rebuild and leadbetter.... To do that with an already successful swing takes some guts, but he wanted to do it to hit the ball lower and straighter and the rest is history.

I think he would have won a major or 2 with his old swing but not 6, and well never know. But seve and faldo are the reason I play golf, just watching them at the Masters and open got me hooked in the late 80s

 

Faldo was the one I wanted to emulate, but secretly I envied Woosnam's swing. Faldo was technical, Woosnam just made it look easy. The same could be said of Lyle, but I think he was already starting to struggle by the time Faldo became the dominant force in European golf.

Boy sandy could hit a ball. Went watching him at Fulwood and he was hitting these 3-2 irons between rugby posts.....boy I was impressed. To this day I've never seen a better ball striker than sandy

[Matt J]

First time I've ever checked the Champions' Tour leaderboard, haha.

 

Seems Sir Nick played pretty well. Hopefully he'll keep teeing it up in public.

[biphmateen]

I saw Feherty's comedy show when he came to town a couple weeks ago. Two guys he doesn't appear to be fond of are Faldo and Monty. Talked about how cheap Faldo was with his caddies. Speaking of Faldo's caddy, I was at the tourney in New Orleans in the early nineties. It was at English Turn. Faldo was walking to the first tee (roped off area) to start his round and his caddy Fanny decided to cut through the crowd. Next thing I know his Mizuno's were into my left thigh. Fanny said oh sorry there. Fortunately I had a cold beer to relieve my pain.

[SMAKCruiser]

First time I've ever checked the Champions' Tour leaderboard, haha.

 

Seems Sir Nick played pretty well. Hopefully he'll keep teeing it up in public.

 

I actually find the Champions Tour more entertaining lately.

[baloo]

Hey, I was out there watching a bit today. Followed the Couples and Pavin group though. Didn't see Faldo at all.

 

Talk about an artist, Pavin hits every shot about 10 feet high and carries his driver about 230 and he's out there playing some good golf.

[the bishop]

Even par after 36 is not bad for a guy who's really not a competitive player anymore. Hopefully he's just out there to have some fun and is doing so.

[sandy]

Excellent, we won't have to hear Sir Nick ramble on and on and on ....

[micahray]

The man is almost 60 and spends the vast majority of his time in the booth but it would be great to see him play some decent golf, I love the Faldo drill and he is one of the all time greats.

[golfandfishing]

Hey, I was out there watching a bit today. Followed the Couples and Pavin group though. Didn't see Faldo at all.

 

Talk about an artist, Pavin hits every shot about 10 feet high and carries his driver about 230 and he's out there playing some good golf.

 

Guy made the turn in 26 once in a tour event.

[tyorke1]

first player to intimidate everyone , Norman was not the same golfer in his group , but brutal slow.

[grm24]

first player (faldo) to intimidate everyone , Norman was not the same golfer in his group , but brutal slow.

Somewhere Curtis Strange just had a good laugh and Tiger and Jack shared this thought.

[powerpushfade]

I still think the two iron he hit on 13 at the Masters in '96, when he came back against Norman, was one of the best shots I ever saw. Especially under the circumstances. Norman was in the trees right and was forced to lay up. Faldo was debating between 5 wood or 2 iron. Downhill lie with the ball above his feet from 230. The shot ended up like 45' from the hole, but I remember Faldo saying he felt like that was the dagger into Norman's heart. Just an awesome shot under that pressure, with that lie and water in front of the green.

[scruffynick]

I still think the two iron he hit on 13 at the Masters in '96, when he came back against Norman, was one of the best shots I ever saw. Especially under the circumstances. Norman was in the trees right and was forced to lay up. Faldo was debating between 5 wood or 2 iron. Downhill lie with the ball above his feet from 230. The shot ended up like 45' from the hole, but I remember Faldo saying he felt like that was the dagger into Norman's heart. Just an awesome shot under that pressure, with that lie and water in front of the green.

The noise of the strike wad simply stunning...what a sweet noise!

2 other shots hit under same pressure was his 2 three iron shots in 89 masters to beat hoch at 11, and 92 Muirfield at 18! In fact his last 4 holes in 92 is to this day the best 4 holes of golf I've ever seen. To say I've got to play the best 4 holes of my life and then go and do it, boy it days bucket loads about the guy!

[i*windows]

watched him at the BMW open in Munich several years ago. It was a torturous experience, I've never seen someone take some many practise swings and try to hit positions.

[rblmp32]

I wonder if he'll keep up his newfound 'nice guy' routine on the course. Back in the day, he was pretty much the opposite.

 

Worked pretty well for Tiger.

 

Hell, it worked pretty well for Nick too.

[TBD203]

Never realized how big Faldo was until I saw him up close yesterday. Best of luck to him this weekend in the senior open.

[rblmp32]

Never realized how big Faldo was until I saw him up close yesterday. Best of luck to him this weekend in the senior open.

 

Yeah for sure. He's a big man.

[Darth Putter]

He's paired with Tom Watson and Calcavecchia today? Back in the day, those two would have left him behind after a few holes.