‘I’M AMAZED I’M STILL THE LAST ENGLISH WINNER’
Britain’s greatest golfer on his love affair with the Claret Jug... and finally mellowing with age
WHERE else for Sir Nick Faldo to celebrate his 60th birthday on Tuesday but at The Open? Every landmark birthday he has enjoyed has been spent at the biggest event in the sport that has been his life and passion.
His 30th birthday fell during the third round of his first Open victory at Muirfield in 1987. He was competing in the 126th Open at Troon for his 40th, while his 50th saw him play nine holes at Carnoustie with Rory McIlroy.
This time he is not a competitor but the R& A, in recognition of Faldo’s status as a three-time Open champion and this country’ s greatest golfer, have granted him permission to play 18 holes at Royal Birkdale with defending champion Henrik Stenson, Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose and South African legend Ernie Els, who will be competing in his 99th major.
Get ready for a fairway serenade or two of ‘Happy Birthday.’
‘I’m very grateful to the R&A for letting me play this fourball,’ Sir Nick told The Mail on Sunday.
‘Golf has been my life, so this will be a great start to the day.
‘Henrik and Rosey will play nine holes each and we’ll play against Ernie and Louis [ Oosthuizen, another former Open winner]. We’ve rented a couple of houses nearby and so after that there will be an afternoon tea where fellow golfers and other business associates will hopefully drop in between 3-6.
‘Then in the evening we’ll have another party where we’ll be leaping around like youngsters.’
What a week he has got in store. Before heading up to Birkdale he will help his mum, Joyce, celebrate her forthcoming 90th birthday with a lunchtime party.
And Fanny Sunesson, who carried the bag when he won four of his six majors, turned 50 a few days ago.
‘I’ve also got another close friend who’s about to turn 70, so it’s going to be some week,’ he said.
‘Fanny is going to be at Birkdale and I was looking at some old photos l ast week of our days together, like that one on the steps when we won the Claret Jug at St Andrews.
‘Then I realised it was 27 years ago — 27 years ago! Where on earth does the time go?’
Faldo admitted he had reached the stage in life where he liked to sit back in his favourite armchair and reminisce.
‘I’ve been doing that quite a lot, actually,’ he confided. ‘I’ve been thinking about the a mazi n g success that Fanny and I enjoyed. We got together in 1990 and that summer we won two majors, almost won three. At the time we were so blasé, we didn’t think anything of it. We were just doing our thing but now you look back and you can see that our thing was actually very impressive.
‘There’s always part of being a competitor that never leaves you, who thinks you should have done more and thinks about the majors you didn’t win. But then you think about how difficult they are to win.
‘Look at what’s happening now, with seven first-time major winners in a row. Even Rory [McIlroy] is suddenly finding how difficult it is, after cruising to his first four.
‘Phil [Mickelson] has the most of the present brigade with five, so that gets me a nice bit of respect off the young players in America as I go about my TV work. Six majors actually adds up to a pretty darn good career.’
As you can probably gather, Faldo i s one of those people who is embracing the idea of turning 60, rather than dreading it. ‘When you think it’s literally half my life ago that I won my first Open, that’s pretty cool,’ he said.
‘But then you think that’s 30 years ago, so that hurts a little. But I enjoy my life. I spend most of my time as a TV commentator being surrounded by 20- something athletes, so that keeps you young.
‘I really admire those people who are in their 80s and they’re still proactive.’
Part of the celebration of this time in his life has been rediscovering being a golfer. After years spent leaving the clubs largely in the attic as he concentrated on his TV work, Faldo has played a couple of events recently ont he over-50s Champions Tour in America.
That will continue with an appearance at the Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl next week, before embarking on a two-month stint on the senior circuit in the US.
‘I’ve been a golfer for almost half a century, so why not celebrate that over the next few months when I’m
not doing my TV work,’ he asked. ‘I still love trying all the equipment and the exercise routines. Those two events in America have given me a taste for it again, and I think I’ll be better prepared and putina better performance at Porthcawl.’
The fates have aligned in all sorts of ways this week.
Faldo’s landmark coincides with the 25th anniversary of the last of his three Open wins, which also happens to be the last time an Englishman won. It was at Birkdale that he played in his first Open in 1976; at the majestic Southport links in 1983 that he unravelled over the back nine in the final round and realised his swing could not cope with the pressure on Sunday afternoon at a major.
‘That Open in 1983 was amazing for me,’ he said. ‘I began the event double bogey, double bogey and still shot 68, which has to be the best unknown 68 of my entire career. Then with nine holes to play I blew up and it wasn’t long afterwards in a post-tournament briefing that I came to the conclusion that I needed to rebuild my swing to become a better golfer, one that could win The Open.
‘My last victory in 1992 was the most draining. That was the one where I frittered away a four-shot lead and I looked at the leaderboard on the 14th green and was two back.
‘I was blowing it in fine style and I would have been badly scarred if I’d lost that. I said to myself, “You better play the best four holes of your career to rescue this” and I just about did.’
Faldo is upbeat at the prospect of the English drought ending this week.
‘ It seems amazing that it’s 25 years since an Englishman won but the current crop are good and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we got a home winner this year.
‘We’ve got a good big three right now in Tommy Fleetwood, Rosey and Paul Casey. You’ve got Tommy, whose ball striking is Stensonesque, Rosey, who went so close at the Masters, and Casey playing some of the best golf of his career. So yes, I’m hopeful.’
Ask Faldo if there is anything left on his bucket list and it seems appropriate that the man who did not pick up a club until he was 13 but still reached the golfing summit wants to see Everest.
‘From a distance, you understand, I’m not into climbing it,’ he said.
‘I think if you live a hectic life, your bucket list actually becomes quite simple. I’d love to spend a month in my house without leaving it, and I still haven’t done that.
‘ Most of all I enjoy spending quality time with my four kids. They’ve all got their own worlds now but they’re good fun and we have a good time together.’
Faldo at 60, then, might be more content than he has ever been. The restless soul at 30 who put golf above everything has matured into a man who is appreciative of life’s bigger picture.
But he still loves golf. He will always love golf.