Nick FALDO

After his fine performances at the Open Championships of 1982,'84 and '86 Nick Faldo's moment of glory finally arrived in 1987 in the mist at Muirfield. The nerveless Englishman reeled off 18 straight pars to win by one stroke from Paul Azinger who had led by three shots with just nine holes to play. The American bogeyed the last two holes whilst Faldo played the 18th in faultless fashion - a fine drive,a superb five iron and two putts. The famous old claret jug was his!

By the time the Ryder Cup came round later that year Faldo was still in prime form and he teamed up with Ian Woosnam to devastating effect. He and the little Welshman proved unbeatable and their partnership netted an impressive 3 1/2 points for the European team. One victory in particular stood out as they pulverised a strong-looking home team pairing of Curtis Strange & Tom Kite 5&4 in the afternoon four-balls. Nick was finally beaten in the last day singles,but it was the narrowest of defeats as he went down by one hole to Mark Calcavecchia.

It mattered not,however,as the Europeans celebrated their first ever triumph on American soil by a score of 15-13. The following year Faldo continued his rich vein of form and he challenged in three of the years four majors. He put up a brave defence of his Open title and his five under par total was bettered only by Nick Price and the brilliant winner Seve Ballesteros. The U.S. Open saw Nick even closer to glory,he and Curtis Strange were all square at six under at the end of the four rounds which meant a 18 hole play-off the next day. It was not to be Faldo's day,however,as he could only produce a disappointing round of 75 compared to Strange's even par 71.

The PGA Championship produced another fine performance from Faldo as he finished in fifth place,seven strokes behind tournament winner Jeff Sluman. (David Scranage)