Nick Faldo

Nick Faldo

Personal Information
Birth	(1957-07-18) 18 July 1957 Welwyn Garden City, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg)
Nationality	England
College	None
Career
Turned Pro	1976
Current tours	PGA Tour, European Tour, Champions Tour
Professional wins	43 (PGA Tour: 9, European Tour: 27, Other: 7)
Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 6
Masters	Won 1989, 1990, 1996
U.S. Open	2nd: 1988
The Open Championship	Won 1987, 1990, 1992
PGA Championship	T2: 1992
Awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1997
PGA Tour Player of the Year	1990
European Tour Order of Merit winner	1983, 1992
European Tour Scoring leader	1983, 1992
European Tour Player of the Year	1989, 1990, 1992

Nicholas "Nick" Alexander Faldo MBE (born 18 July 1957) is an English professional golfer on the European Tour, and is one of Europe's most successful players ever. Over his career, he has won three Open Championship titles and three US Masters titles. He was ranked the World No. 1 on the Official World Golf Rankings for a total of 98 weeks. In 2006, Faldo became the lead golf analyst for CBS Sports.

Tournament career

Faldo was born in Welwyn Garden City, England. He borrowed some clubs from his neighbours after watching Jack Nicklaus play the 1971 Masters on television. While working as a carpet fitter, Faldo won the English Amateur and the British Youths Championship in 1975. He turned professional in 1976 and quickly achieved success, finishing 8th on the European Tour Order of Merit in 1977 and 3rd in 1978 and winning a European Tour event in each of those seasons. In the former year he became the youngest player to appear in the Ryder Cup at the age of 21. Faldo was one of the leading players on the European Tour in the early 1980s, and he topped the Order of Merit in 1983.

However, feeling that he needed to refine his game in order to become a regular contender in major championships (British tabloids even dubbed him "Nick Foldo" after collapses at the 1983 Open Championship and the 1984 Masters), he spent the mid-1980s remodelling his swing under the tutelage of David Leadbetter. His performances dropped off for a couple of years as the changes occurred, but by 1987 he was playing at an even higher level, and he claimed his first major title at that year's Open Championship. He managed to beat American Paul Azinger by one shot even without getting a birdie in the final round (he parred all 18 holes), after Azinger bogeyed the final two holes of the tournament.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Faldo was considered the best golfer in the world. He was noted for being remarkably composed under pressure, intimidating to his opponents, and won more of the four professional major tournaments (Faldo won six) than any other player in the world from 1987 through 1996 (Nick Price was second with three major victories during this period; Seve Ballesteros, a contemporary of Faldo's from Spain, won five majors from 1979-1988). He won the Open Championship again in 1990 in St Andrews, Scotland by six shots, and claimed it for a third time in 1992, outplaying American John Cook. He also won two more majors when he won the Masters Tournament in 1989 and 1990. At the 1989 Masters, he shot a 65, the low round of the tournament, to get into a playoff with Scott Hoch. He won the playoff after holing a somewhat lengthy putt on the 2nd playoff hole (Hoch missed a 2 foot putt to win on the first playoff hole). At the 1990 Masters, he came from behind again to get into a playoff with Raymond Floyd, once again winning on the second playoff hole after Floyd pulled his approach shot into a pond left of the green. Faldo spent a total of 98 weeks altogether at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, and claimed the European Tour Order of Merit a second time in 1992. During that time, Faldo said of his success: "The run doesn't have to end. If someone is going to beat me then I'm going to make sure they've worked for their victory. Let them come and get it from me." That year, he had worldwide earnings of £1,558,978, breaking the existing record.

Throughout this time, he remained a European Tour player while also visiting America regularly and playing events around the world, but in 1995 he decided to concentrate on playing on the PGA Tour, as his priority was to win further major championships (and three out of the four majors are played in the United States). At first this strategy didn't seem to work, as he had a moderate 1995 season and start to the 1996 season, but he won a famous victory at the 1996 Masters to collect his sixth and final major championship. He went into the final round trailing Greg Norman by six shots, but was the beneficiary of an infamous Sunday collapse by Norman; Faldo shot a 67 to win by five over Norman, who struggled mightily en route to a 78. Though this is commonly remembered as the tournament Norman threw away, Faldo's 67 was a memorable display of concentration and consistency which put pressure on Norman. After Faldo finished, he hugged Norman and whispered something in his ear, which years later Norman confirmed to have included the line "Don't let the bastards get you down," a reference to the media, which Faldo assumed would aggressively hound Norman for the loss. Norman said in interview after defeat that "He (Faldo) had gone way, way up in my estimations". Since then they have become firm friends and fishing partners, a passion they both share.

Faldo was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1990 and the European Tour Player of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1992, and has won 29 European Tour titles. As Faldo entered his forties, his form gradually declined and he devoted more time to off-course activities. The last season that he played regularly on the PGA Tour was 2001. Afterwards, he refocused on the European Tour, but has consistently played less than a full schedule. His most recent top-10 finish in a major to date (and quite probably the final of his career) was a tie for eighth place at the 2003 Open Championship. As of July 2005, his career European Tour earnings are just under €8 million, and his PGA Tour earnings are over $5 million.

Faldo is also the most successful Ryder Cup player ever having won the most points of any player on either team and having represented the European Team a record 11 times and played a key role in making Europe competitive in the event. Having won 23 of his matches, lost 19, and halved 4, he also holds the record for having played the most Ryder Cup matches. He also holds the record for the most points won by any player 25 and is one of only six players to have scored a hole-in-one in the Ryder Cup.

While Faldo's professional individual tournament wins (39) pale in quantity to that of contemporaries Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer, the prestige and stature of his successes are impressive, and he has more major victories than any of these players. His CV boasts (often multiple) successes in high-profile tour events such as the French Open, Irish Open, Spanish Open, Swiss Open (now European Masters), the European PGA, the British Masters, the European Open, the Johnnie Walker Classic, and the Volvo Masters, as well as his Nissan Open, Doral Open and Heritage successes in the US. These wins are not only supplemented by his six majors, but also by his wins in invitational events such as the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge, the Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship, and the World Matchplay, as well as his team successes in the Dunhill Cup, the World Cup of Golf, and of course the Ryder Cup.

In the first half of 2007, Faldo did not appear in any regular tour events. He did play in the 2007 British Open, missing the cut. In his first Champions Tour event, he finished tied for 14th in the Senior British Open.

After this, Faldo missed the cut at Carnoustie last year and has not played a tournament since the Hong Kong Open last November. On Tuesday 20 May 2008, Faldo confirmed that he would not take part in the 2008 Open at Birkdale. It was the first time he had not taken part in the competition since failing to qualify as an amateur in 1975.

Ryder Cup captaincy

Faldo was selected as captain of the European Ryder Cup team in 2008. The 37th Ryder Cup Golf Tournament was won 16½ - 11½ by Team USA to end the streak of three successive victories for Team Europe. This was Team USA's largest margin of victory since 1981, and the first time since 1979 the Americans had the lead after every session of play.It was held at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, which as a contribution factor in Faldo getting the captaincy given his experience of living and working in America for over a decade.

Faldo had made a bold move to pick Ian Poulter as his wild card ahead of the much favoured Darren Clarke. This move was questioned by many, paid off when Poulter emerged as the top scorer in the tournament. Faldo's relationship with the media during the competition was very erratic. During practice, photographers had taken pictures of him holding a list of names, seemly outlining the partnerships for the coming days. In the following press conference, he denied the list had any part in his tactics and seemed very irritated by continuing questions about it. Another controversial move was to only play Sergio García and Lee Westwood, the two most experienced and successful Ryder cup players on his team, for only one session on the Saturday. His team selection was vindicated, however, as Europe finished the day 1 point ahead, closing the gap to 2 points behind the USA. On the final day of the competition, Faldo decided to play a "bottom heavy" tactic, where the best players would start lower down the order, thus if it went to a close finish, Europe would have its best players in play. This tactic seemed to backfire, as the USA, leading by 2 at the start of the day, gained the 5 points they required by the eighth match rendering the last four irrelevant. This led to some severe criticism of Faldo's strategic skills. His cause was not helped by the poor performances of the three most experienced players on the European side, Pádraig Harrington, Sergio García and Lee Westwood, who failed to win a single match between them.

Broadcasting career

After cutting back on his playing schedule, Faldo became a broadcaster for ABC Sports' PGA coverage, where he worked from 2004 to 2006. While never considered to be a particularly charismatic player, Faldo surprised many fans with his dry, British wit and insightful commentary as part of the ABC team.

On 3 October, 2006 it was announced that Faldo had signed a contract with CBS to replace Lanny Wadkins, to become the network's lead golf analyst. "I view this as a fabulous opportunity for me, which may come once every 10 years. But it will seriously curtail my playing career. My playing days aren't completely over but my priority now is given to CBS." Faldo's decision means he missed the 2007 Masters, an event he has won three times. CBS has signed a six-year contract with the US PGA Tour and will broadcast 21 events from 2007.

Other activities and awards

In 1991 Faldo launched his golf course design practice Faldo Design, which has designed or remodelled dozens of courses spread across several continents. Designs include Chart Hills, Sporting Club Berlin, Ocean Dunes, Vietnam, and Cottonwood Hills near Hutchinson, Kansas. As way of opening his first course design in the UK (Charthills) in Kent, Faldo teed up on the dog-leg right par four. He drove in to the middle-right of the fairway, he then teed another ball and drove off, the two balls finished within 6 inches of each other and to this day can be seen set in to the fairway in a protective case. This was a mark of the man's ability at his peak. So far he did as well several oversea golf course designs like The Fortress at Louisbourg Resort Golf & Spa on Cape Breton Island, Canada. He has other business interests including coaching schools and pro shops. In 1996 he launched the Faldo Series to encourage young European golfers both male and female.

There are 1,200 participants between the ages of 11 and 21 each year and the top 60 players qualify for the Faldo Series Final, hosted each year by Faldo at The Celtic Manor Resort in Wales. The most notable graduate so far is the Englishman Nick Dougherty, who won on the European Tour for the first time in 2005.

Faldo has written several golf instructional books.

Along with the Marriott hotel chain, Faldo established The Faldo Golf Institute in 1997. This is a golf instructional program designed to help golfers of every level improve their skills and enjoyment of golf. The Institute has five locations: Orlando, Florida, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Palm Desert, California, Marco Island, Florida and Hertfordshire, UK.

He was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1989, and was awarded the MBE in 1998.

Faldo was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2000, Faldo was ranked as the 18th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.

Personal life

He met his first wife, Melanie Rockall, when he was 21. They married in 1979, but five years later they parted when she discovered he was having an affair with his manager's secretary, Gill Bennett. His divorce from Rockall came before his championship successes, and her settlement was relatively small.

He married Bennett in 1986, and the couple had three children: Natalie, Matthew and Georgia. They split up in 1995 after Faldo began a relationship with 20-year-old American golfing student Brenna Cepelak.

Their three-year affair ended when he met Valerie Bercher. The spurned Miss Cepelak famously battered Faldo's Porsche 959 with a golf club, causing £10,000 damage. Faldo's relationship with Bercher, a Swiss PR agent, began in 1998 when they met at the European Masters golf tournament. At the time, Valerie was working for marketing company IMG. She left her fiance Olivier Delaloye and married Faldo in July 2001 (the same day as his ex-caddie Fanny Sunesson got married, in a different location) in a lavish ceremony at his Windsor home, and they have a daughter Emma Scarlet (b. July 2003). It was announced in May 2006 that Faldo had filed for divorce.. Golf World famously summed up the true mark of genius when they profiled the careers of Faldo and his arch rival for many years Greg Norman: "Norman has played and won more events: 87-43; however, Faldo has won more US and European tour titles: 36-34. Norman has won more money; Faldo has won more majors: 6-2. Norman has won more friends, Faldo more admirers."

Professional wins (43)

PGA Tour wins (9)

• 1984 (1) Sea Pines Heritage
• 1987 (1) The Open Championship
• 1989 (1) The Masters
• 1990 (2) The Masters, The Open Championship
• 1992 (1) The Open Championship
• 1995 (1) Doral-Ryder Open
• 1996 (1) The Masters
• 1997 (1) Nissan Open

Major championships are shown in bold. The PGA tour did not recognise The Open Championship as an official event until 1995, but in 2002 it retroactively recognized all Open Championship wins as PGA Tour wins.

European Tour wins (27)

• 1977 (1) Skol Lager Individual
• 1978 (1) Colgate PGA Championship
• 1980 (1) Sun Alliance PGA Championship
• 1981 (1) Sun Alliance PGA Championship
• 1982 (1) Haig Whisky TPC
• 1983 (5) Paco Rabanne Open de France, Martini International, Car Care Plan International, Lawrence Batley International, Ebel Swiss Open-European Masters
• 1984 (1) Car Care Plan International
• 1987 (2) Peugeot Spanish Open, The Open Championship
• 1988 (2) Peugeot Open de France, Volvo Masters
• 1989 (3) Volvo PGA Championship, Dunhill British Masters, Peugeot Open de France
• 1990 (1) The Open Championship
• 1991 (1) Carroll's Irish Open
• 1992 (4) Carroll's Irish Open, The Open Championship, Scandinavian Masters, GA European Open
• 1993 (2) Johnnie Walker Classic, Carroll's Irish Open
• 1994 (1) Alfred Dunhill Open

In total, 211 official wins including three Open Championships which are also included in Faldo's PGA Tour win tally. The European Tour did not begin to recognize the three U.S.-based majors as part of its schedule until 1998, two years after Faldo's last Masters victory.

Other wins (7)

• 1979 ICL International (South African Tour)
• 1989 Suntory World Match Play Championship (England - not an official European Tour event at that time)
• 1990 Johnnie Walker Classic (Asia - the European Tour first sanctioned this event in 1992)
• 1992 Toyota World Match Play Championship (England - not an official European Tour event at that time), Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship (Jamaica - unofficial event)
• 1994 Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa - unofficial event)
• 1998 World Cup of Golf (with David Carter)

Major Championships

Wins (6)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runners Up
1987	The Open Championship	1 shot deficit	-5 (68-69-71-71=279)	1 stroke	Paul Azinger, Rodger Davis
1989	The Masters	5 shot deficit	-5 (68-73-77-65=283)	Playoff 1	Scott Hoch
1990	The Masters (2)	3 shot deficit	-10 (71-72-66-69=278)	Playoff 2	Raymond Floyd
1990	The Open Championship (2)	5 shot lead	-18 (67-65-67-71=270)	5 strokes	Mark McNulty, Payne Stewart
1992	The Open Championship (3)	4 shot lead	-12 (66-64-69-73=272)	1 stroke	John Cook
1996	The Masters (3)	6 shot deficit	-12 (69-67-73-67=276)	5 strokes	Greg Norman

¹ Defeated Scott Hoch in sudden death playoff - Faldo (5-3=8), Hoch (5-4=9)
² Defeated Raymond Floyd in sudden death playoff - Faldo (4-4=8), Floyd (4-5=9)

Results timeline

Tournament	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	40
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	T28	T62	T7	T19
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	T20	T15	T25	DNP	DNP	T30	1
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T55	DNP	DNP	DNP	2	T18
The Open Championship	T12	T11	T4	T8	T6	T53	5	1	3	T11
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	T14	CUT	T20	T54	CUT	T28	T4	T9

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	1	T12	T13	T39	32	T24	1	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	T3	T16	T4	T72	CUT	T45	T16	T48	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	1	T17	1	2	T8	T40	4	T51	T44	CUT
PGA Championship	T19	T16	T2	3	T4	T31	T65	CUT	T54	T41

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The Masters	T28	CUT	T14	T33	CUT	WD	CUT	DNP
U.S. Open	7	T72	T5	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	T41	CUT	T59	T8	CUT	T11	CUT	CUT
PGA Championship	T51	T51	T60	DNP	T49	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

• Ryder Cup (representing GB & Ireland / Europe): 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985 (winners), 1987 (winners), 1989 (tied match and retained trophy), 1991, 1993, 1995 (winners), 1997 (winners). He is the non-playing captain of the Europe team in 2008. Faldo has the career records for the most points won in Ryder Cups, and for the most Ryder Cup selections.
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing England): 1985, 1986, 1987 (winners), 1988, 1991, 1993.
• World Cup (representing England): 1977, 1991, 1998 (winners).
• UBS Cup: 2001, 2002, 2003.
• Double Diamond: 1977.
• Four Tours World Championship: 1986, 1987, 1990.
• Hennessy Cognac Cup: 1978 (winners), 1980 (winners), 1982 (winners), 1984 (winners).
• Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2006 (winners).

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most major championship wins
• Golfers with most European Tour wins

External links

• Nick Faldo official website
• Profile on the European Tour's official site
• Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
• Profile on about.com
• Profile at Hello! magazine
• The Faldo Golf Institute by Marriott