Nick Faldo Single Minded

The six-time Major Champion has had to deal with his fair share of high-pressure moments. So what sets him apart from the rest?

- Michael Weston

Believe it or not, for someone who’s regarded as having one of the game’s strongest ever minds, Sir Nick Faldo once stood over a ball and felt his legs buckle with nerves. It was a Ryder Cup match. “Oh sxxt”, thought Europe’s greatest ever golfer as he stepped away to take a moment. Of course, he executed the shot to perfection, as he so often did in pressure moments throughout his trophy-laden career.

The 62-year-old doesn’t suffer the same sort of moments these days. In the commentary booth, he watches others go through the mill. He does, however, have a tendency to shout at the television when he doesn’t like what he sees, which is normally something strategy related.

Faldo’s game was not built on power. His greatest assets were consistency, distance control, and course management. It’s one of the reasons he gains so much pleasure from his course design projects, using his strategic mind to test modern pros and amateurs.

When we speak, Sir Nick is hosting the Grand Final of the Faldo Series in the UAE. It’s this great golfing brain his students have access to, so we’re keen to learn one or two mental secrets as well…

You had 18 straight pars in the final round of the ‘87 Open at Muirfield. Was that the finest strategic round you played?

No, it wasn’t. Trying to win an Open was a whole new experience. You’re churning inside. I was doing the best I could. I felt really nervous on the greens. I wasn’t striking the putts as well as I wanted. It was just hard work because it was such a strange day. This Scottish mist came in and it was like pea soup and the ball was going nowhere. You constantly had to adjust.

In your book, Life Swings, you talk about playing “strict par golf”, but were you actually just learning on the spot?