The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Retirement still right call for Torrance after golf legend moves on
NO REGRETS: Scottish star and Ryder Cup-winner says it was not a ‘difficult decision at all’ as he looks back on lengthy career
Sam Torrance hasn’t found it hard to describe himself as a former golf professional.
After deciding not to tee it up again on the European Senior Tour, the legendary Scot has no regrets about saying enough is enough.
Ryder Cup wins as player and captain and 44 professional tournament victories will mean the 65-year-old will always be considered as one of the greats of the game from the Home of Golf.
But the pencil won’t be going behind the ear in competition again.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision at all,” said Torrance.
“It has been over two years since I have played in a tournament and I always said that if I didn’t think I could win I would stop.
“Golf has been my life. It has been in my blood for so long. It has been very difficult to say to myself that I can no longer win so I eventually spoke to my manager, Vicky Cuming, and said that I needed some info, please.
“I said to her to give me my last three years of results including my score to par and best finishes and I was more than 200-over par and my best finish was 35th in a 54-man field.
“So, I said: ‘No, that’s it’.
“I am very happy with my decision and I don’t miss the competition now. I am actually delighted I never have to hold a pencil in my hand ever again.
“I watch golf on the telly and when I commentate, I see the pressure there and I am so delighted I don’t have that in my life anymore.
“When I go play Sunningdale with my mates, I feel pressure and I feel nervous, and it’s just beyond belief.
“So, all I am giving up is tournament golf and the only golf I now play is with my mates for a bit of cash.”
You have to go all the way back to 1971 for the beginning of the Torrance professional golfing adventure.
He recalled: “My first tournament was the Spanish Open. I was a 17-yearold Scot but I knew no Spanish back then and we asked them: ‘Where is the golf course? The reply was: ‘Que, que’.
“I showed him the address and the course was two-and-a-half to three hours drive away. So this was my initiation to life on tour, staying three hours from the course.
“I don’t remember the opening tee shot but I do remember missing the cut in my first nine events and then leading in the 10th.
“That was the John Player Trophy. I was leading with nine holes to go and I think I finished up top 10. So I knew there was something there.
“I was very lucky to win prize money in my first year. Then I won the 1976 Piccadilly Medal at Coventry Park. I was lucky also to win twice in that year. I never really looked back.”
Always hugely popular with the galleries, particularly in Scotland, how would Torrance the golfer like to be remembered?
“I can’t say what my legacy will be,” he said. “He never won a major, but he had fun?”
I am actually delighted I never have to hold a pencil in my hand ever again. SAM TORRANCE