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Nick Faldo

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File:FaldoAutobiography.jpg
Nick Faldo on the cover of his autobiography.

Nicholas "Nick" Alexander Faldo MBE (born 18 July 1957) is an English golfer on the European Tour, and one of Europe's most successful players ever. Over his career, he has won three Open Championship titles and three US Masters titles. He topped the Official World Golf Rankings for a total of 98 weeks.

Tournament career

Faldo was born in Welwyn Garden City, England. As a carpet fitter, Faldo won the English Amateur Championship 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 better than ever, and he claimed his first major title at that year's Open Championship.

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In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Faldo was the best player in the world. He was remarkably composed under pressure, intimidating to his opponents, and therefore man to beat in the major championships. He won the Open Championship again in 1990, and claimed it for a third time in 1992. He also won two more majors when he won the Masters Tournament in 1989 and 1990. He spent time at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, and claimed the European Tour Order of Merit a second time in 1992. 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. It has often been said that Norman threw this tournament away, but it was also won by Faldo in a memorable display of concentration and consistency under intense pressure.

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 one of the most successful Ryder Cup players ever, 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.

While Faldo's professional individual tournament wins (39) pales in quantity to that of contemporaries Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer, the prestige and stature of his successes is most impressive. 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 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 World Championship of Golf, 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.

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 and Ocean Dunes, Vietnam. 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.

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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 four locations: Orlando, Florida, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Palm Desert, California, and Marco Island, Florida.

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. He has been elected to captain the European Ryder Cup team in 2008.

Since cutting back on his playing schedule, Faldo has become a broadcaster for ABC Sports' PGA coverage. While never considered to be a particularly charismatic player, Faldo has 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 will miss 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 [1].

Personal life

Notorious for his poor relationship with his fellow professionals and the press, Faldo's focus on his profession and winning has cost him personally. [2]

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Faldo with his son Matthew at the 2006 British Open

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. [3]

Nick's favourite word is "crumbs" and has been known to say it frequently on air. For example, "I'm really looking forward to 2008 but, crumbs, it'll be a lot of work to win a fourth consecutive championship."[citation needed]

Tournament wins

PGA Tour (9)

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 (27)

In total, 27 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 professional wins (7)

Results in major championships

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
The Masters T28 CUT T14 T33 CUT WD CUT
U.S. Open 7 T72 T5 CUT CUT DNP DNP
The Open Championship T41 CUT T59 T8 CUT T11 CUT
PGA Championship T51 T51 T60 DNP T49 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 scheduled to be the non-playing captain of the Europe team in 2008.
  • 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).
  • The Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2005 (winners).

See also

References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/5404748.stm
  2. ^ http://www.golfdigest.com/majors/britishopen/index.ssf?/majors/britishopen/gd200207faldo.html
  3. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006240701,00.html
Preceded by BBC Sports Personality of the Year
1989 		Succeeded by
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