003: Sir Nick Faldo
One of greatest ever to play the game, the six-time major winner reminisces about how he fell in love with the sport in the early 1970s
Sir Nick Faldo won six major championships – three Masters and three Opens – in a stellar career that brought 43 professional wins.
One of Europe’s big five who dominated golf in the 1980s and 90s and grabbed the Ryder Cup out of American hands, his dedication, presence and composure under pressure made him a formidable competitor.
Sir Nick is also a renowned television commentator, spending nearly two decades on screen in the United States. He is the current host of the British Masters at The Belfry, a role he has held since 2023.
How did you fall in love with golf?
It was television. I watched the Masters way back in 1971. I was a sportsman looking for a sport. I watched that Masters and said to mum and dad, ‘I’d like to try golf’.
We went down to Welwyn Garden [City, golf club] the next day, I think, and booked half a dozen lessons with Chris Arnold, the assistant pro.
I probably said, ‘Right, I’m ready.’ And he said, ‘No, your first lesson’s tomorrow’. And that was it.
The coolest thing he did, which was unbeknown to me then, was the discipline. I know the first lesson was the grip, and the second lesson was grip and posture, and then the next lesson was grip, posture and alignment.
I didn’t hit a golf ball until the fourth lesson – whereas we know with kids now, they hit it within three seconds: ‘I can do this’ and wallop.
“We know it’s a tough game. You’ve got to walk yourself through the bad stuff so you can suddenly hit a good one and go, ‘Oh, I like this’”
We know it’s a tough game. You’ve got to walk yourself through the bad stuff so you can suddenly hit a good one and go, ‘Oh, I like this’ – rather than, ‘Well, this is impossible. Don’t like it’ and chuck it and don’t bother.
It’s a sad thing to hear that kids try it, go ‘can’t do that’ and never come back to golf. It’s very important we learn to instil discipline in the modern kid, which is very difficult.
Can you remember the first time you broke 100?
Yes. I started and I had just hit golf balls for three months. This is April, and my neighbour gave me a couple of clubs, and then I would sneak over the road to Monk’s Walk, which was the school up the road from me.
I would sneak out onto the playing fields, and I’d go on the soccer pitch line. It was by accident, but there was a line pointing to the long jump pit.
I had 20 balls in a bag, which I’d rummaged through the bushes to get. Mum made the bag, because she was a dressmaker, and I went out there and I hit to this long jump pit.
I guess it was anything from 50 to 70 yards, with a 7 and 8 iron – I remember the ones which had the plastic cover on them to make them look like hickory and there was some funny steel underneath.
I did that. I’d get annoyed if I missed this long jump pit. I went back 20 years later and that long jump, it is only eight by 10. It’s just a little square of sand and I would be getting cheesed off if I missed it.
It was my early days of hitting it to a target down the line. I played my first round of golf on my birthday, 18th July. Mum and dad bought me a half set of clubs called St Andrews.
I shot somewhere in the mid-80s. I didn’t know the rules, and I know I lost three balls or something. I shot somewhere in the 80s for my very first go, because I’d got past the missing it, shanking, topping it – all sort of things – and I actually could kind of hit it.
I think that was very important. Again not rushing onto a golf course before I could play, so I could actually hit the darn thing.
Sir Nick Faldo & the Ryder Cup
• Played in 11 Ryder Cups, from 1977 to 1997
• Won 25 points for Europe
• Played with Lee Westwood, who was making his debut, in his final appearance, in 1997
• Captained the European team at Valhalla in the 2008 match
