Faldo

[AlchemyGolf]

The recent threads about greatness or not as the case maybe got me thinking.

I was a massive Seve fan,he was the main reason why I started to play the game.

That era also had Faldo.

He is not remembered with as much affection but his major record surpasses Seve's.

I personally never took to the guy but was undoubtedly a great golfer.I have also read a few autobiographys of his fellow pro's like Torrance,James etc and not many of them have a good word to say about him.He tried to connect with the fans at times but it was just embarrasing, the air guitar and fake trips spring to mind.CRINGE!!!

He is now trying to reinvent himself as a pundit and seems to be popular in the states.

Just how will golf remember Nick Faldo?

A dickhead who was an amazing talent?
A misunderstood genius?
A nice guy who just didnt know how to relate to people?
A single minded driven sportsman who cared about no one but himself?

Im not sure if its 1 of the above or ALL OF THEM!!

 

[USER1999]

A driven man, with (a?) little talent, and no personality. This enabled him to grind out results, where someone with more imagination might have crumbled. He also had a mechanical, repeatable swing, much like the robot the R&A use to test balls.

Somehow he also was a sucess with the ladies (and not always the one he was married to). Hmm, what first attracted you to the multi millionaire Faldo....

I like him.

 

[colint]

I was a big fan of Faldo, mainly because of his dedication and the fact that at his peak, we had the best golfer in the world by some distance.

He seems OK as a pundit in the states, but I agree that some of the stuff he does is cringeworthy at times. He was a disaster as Ryder Cup captain, all that DJ spoony stuff was just trying to be different for the sake of it.

 

[freddielong]

Faldo was an incredible talent a fantastic golfer possible the best English golfer of all time, you don't become world number one by being driven, you have to have the talent to back it up.

As for his personality he was a winner that seemed to be all he cared about yes, but how can you criticise him for that.

 

[ADB]

I grew up in the Faldo era also and he was a great influence in why I took the game up. I agree his personality leaves a lot to be desired, although you cannot but admire his dedication to become the best in the world. He always backed himself to deliver a result, whether that is winning a tournament or changing his swing so it is repeatable under immense pressure.

One of the best example of this was getting up and down from 93 yards on the final hole of his Ryder Cup match at Oak Hill in 1995 to defeat Curtis Strange. I will never forget it as firstly he was probably the only player who could have done it, and secondly he was embraced by a tearful Seve and Monty - an amazing sporting moment.

It was this ability to back himself when it really mattered that set, and still sets IMO Faldo apart from any British golfer of my generation.

 

[Hogan_Fan]

For me he was always an inspiration and a wonderful player. He had the dedication and single mindedness that my great hero Ben Hogan had and to remodel his swing at a time when he was already winning many tournaments took an awful lot of guts!! I think both of the following statements apply-
*A misunderstood genius.
*A nice guy who just didn't know how to relate to people

 

[thecraw]

As a golfer he was awesome, truely awesome. His Masters performances were incredible when you look back on them. His determination and concentration was way ahead of his time.

Sadly he comes across all wrong and the Ryder Cup just proved he has not changed at all!

 

[algar5]

As a golfer he was awesome, truely awesome. His Masters performances were incredible when you look back on them. His determination and concentration was way ahead of his time.

Sadly he comes across all wrong and the Ryder Cup just proved he has not changed at all!

Spot On. I thought Faldo in his prime was absolutely superb and his single mindedness and commitment to get the best result possible from his talent was unmatched.

As has been stated his manner and personalty, especially in recent years make him at times cringeworthy. However this does not diminish my respect of him as a golfer.

 

[pokerjoke]

Nick faldo was a fantastic golfer,unbelievable determination to succeed,the problem was he didnt care who got in his way and he often came across as regimental and sometimes unaproachable,he was a loner and had few friends.Where Nick really came into his own was when the pressure was put on,true greats handle pressure better than others.As to his commentary ive only heard him a couple of times and he seams to say it as it is,but he certainly knows what hes talking about im sure of that.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I had the pleasure of walking around Royal Wimbledon one Saturday afternoon watching Faldo and Sandy Lyle playing together. Not sure why they were there or playing together other than it was just before they were due to fly out to the 1983 Masters. No-one part from the caddies, about 20 other. No ropes or anything like that. I got the chance to chat with both men between shots, ask about club selection, show off my ropey swing etc and basically had four hours of unadulterated fun in the shadow of one of my heroes.

Both had a very dry and quick wit. Both had plenty of time for those that were there and both struck the ball with sublime ease. From that day on Faldo was my favourite "other" player after Seve who in my eyes is still a golfing god.

Yes he was driven and yes maybe he did antagonise a lot of his peers but he had a plan to become the most successful English golfer and felt the need to change his approach and swing. The only thing I would say that he has tried in recent years to buck his dour persona and as the Ryder Cup shows he has had less success with that. However I do enjoy listening to him commentate as I think he is honest and makes it more interesting for the viewer.

Top man in my book.

 

[pokerjoke]

Top man in my book.

[/QUOTE]

Please can i have a signed copy of your book Homer your my idol.

 

[Sponge1980]

Faldos final round of the Masters when he beat Norman has always stuck with me. Its the first Major I ever watched on the tv. He maybe wasn't the friendliest of people but you cant argue with his results on the course.

 

[Deleted member 1418]

Hogan_Fan and Homer have it spot on with regard to Faldo. I always admired him for his dedication, determination and will to win. But for me Seve is, and always will be, the greatest European golfer. The reason I took up this great game! His final round in the 88 Open at Lytham to blow away Faldo and then pip Nick Price was just superb.

 

[CrapHacker]

Where should you begin ?

Faldo, even pre swing change, stood up head and shoulders above other Brits in the early 80s because he wanted to take the Yanks on at their own game, but he wasn't good enough, although he was No 1 in the European OOM. What he had that appealed to me as a young(ish) golfer was a fantastic tempo.

The fact that he then had the strength of mind to destroy that swing and come back new and improved was unbelievable. If I remember rightly it was a 3 year work in progress. There wasn't, and probably isn't another man alive who could take 3 years of failure having been European no 1, and then come back to achieve all his aims.

He was the best striker of a ball in the world for well over 10 years, and if his putting had stood up as well as his long game did, he'd have been up there as history's 3rd best golfer of all time.

The Americans have always understood him better than we have. We want our winners to be approachable, witty, good losers who can just turn up and take it or leave it, depending on the way the wind blows.

The Americans want their winners to win.

Which is why he's always been more comfortable over there, than over here.

Golfwise I'd put him in the top 5 or 6 the world has ever seen. Other than that, he doesn't care what I think.

 

[Robobum]

I have an admiration for anyone who is good in their chosen field, particularly sportsmen and even more so golfers because of my first hand appreciation of just how hard the game is.

Faldo's back to back Masters wins were a big reason for me to start playing golf a little more regularly. I loved the way he swung the club so effortlessly. As I knew more about golf I learnt that it was very mechanical but there was still no hitting at the ball and that's the way I wanted to swing it.

 

[Smiffy]

You've only got to count up how many new golf courses sprung up all over the country on the back of Faldo's success to realise what an impact he had on the game in this country. It wasn't just coincidence. He gave us a sportman to be proud of and somebody to cheer for. OK he wasn't the most diplomatic of guys, and he had some funny ways about him. But I loved to watch him. He always looked and dressed immaculately on the course, and how many of us started wearing Pringle because of him?
I still like to watch him play, he can't mix it with the big boys anymore but I for one would really love him to conjure up some of his old magic, even just for one round, and shoot an amazing 66 or something.
The guy, in his day, was awesome. A big fella in real life, and with him on the first tee I can guarantee that most of his opponents felt they were a hole or two down before they had even tee'd off.
I love the guy and love the memories he gave us through the 80's and 90's.
He fecked the Ryder Cup up. So what?

 

[Dave3498]

It seems to me that the likes of Torrence, James and Lyle are talking from a position of outright jealousy. I believe that any one of them would sell his mum to have the record of achievement that Nick Faldo has had. Faldo's lack of persona is really down to his dislike of the golfing press and they have created an un-likeable person which I suspect is far from his true character.

As far as the loss of the Ryder Cup is concerned, apart from a few, the blame can only be put on the players out there with the 14 clubs, who, to be quite brutal about it, simply didn't perform anything like expectations. Look at Nick's own Ryder Cup record as a player, which is second to none.

He is by far England's best golfer of the modern era and for my money he deserves his knighthood.

Well done Sir Nick Faldo.

 

[Robobum]

.....As far as the loss of the Ryder Cup is concerned, apart from a few, the blame can only be put on the players out there with the 14 clubs, who, to be quite brutal about it, simply didn't perform anything like expectations......

Might have had a little something to do with the Americans playing unbelievably well on the final day. I think their "worst" score was 4 under, wasn't JB Holmes 11 under for 15 holes or something stupid??

Not much anyone could have done about that.

 

[birdieman]

It seems to me that the likes of Torrence, James and Lyle are talking from a position of outright jealousy. I believe that any one of them would sell his mum to have the record of achievement that Nick Faldo has had. Faldo's lack of persona is really down to his dislike of the golfing press and they have created an un-likeable person which I suspect is far from his true character.

As far as the loss of the Ryder Cup is concerned, apart from a few, the blame can only be put on the players out there with the 14 clubs, who, to be quite brutal about it, simply didn't perform anything like expectations. Look at Nick's own Ryder Cup record as a player, which is second to none.

He is by far England's best golfer of the modern era and for my money he deserves his knighthood.

Well done Sir Nick Faldo.

Couldn't agree more Dave.

You cannot win the Ryder Cup every time out, blaming a loss on the captain is daft.

Faldo was a fabulous player, best of his generation which came slightly later than Seve's.

 

[Dodger]

A dickhead who was an amazing talent?
A misunderstood genius?
A nice guy who just didnt know how to relate to people?
A single minded driven sportsman who cared about no one but himself?

I put him as all of these....genius maybe too strong a word...great player but not a genius....a bloody hard hard worker at the game and a guy who has done a fabulous amount for youngsters in the UK but on the flipside he does come accross as a knob on the T.V. It is pretty widely known that he aint that well liked as a person by his peers...possibly he really didn't know how to relate,I have went on record here saying just how bad a choice as a Captain a fair few of the tour thought he was and that was down to that exact fact.

Like Tiger though he is a 'Great'....just not as good a one.