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Nick Faldo didn't mount a serious challenge in any of the majors during
1994 and '95 although he did manage an eighth place finish at the '94
Open and there was another near miss at the PGA Championship that same
year where he ended in fourth. The 1995 Ryder Cup saw Faldo struggle to
one point out of four in the first two days but he then produced a
memorable comeback against Curtis Strange in the last day singles. He
trailed by one hole with just two to play but took the 17th to make it
all square going up the last.
It seemed to be advantage Strange when
Faldo drove into rough and the American found the fairway but Nick laid
up and then produced an exquisite wedge shot from 90 yards to just four
feet from the pin. Under such pressure it was a truly fantastic effort
and when Strange missed from six feet and Faldo holed that testing four
footer a vital point had been secured. When Philip Walton beat Jay Haas
shortly after the Europeans had completed a superb comeback to claim a
14 1/2-13 1/2 victory. The year of 1996 saw Nick win his last major to
date with his triumph in the Masters at Augusta. He started the final
day six strokes behind the leader Greg Norman and then looked on as his
Australian playing partner capitulated with a closing effort of 78.
Faldo showed no mercy and his 67 gave him his third Green Jacket and
sixth major championship.
The following years saw Nick struggling
to return to the form of those glory years of the late eighties and
early nineties although he still managed to contribute a couple of
points in the successful Ryder Cup defence of 1997. Even so he was not a spent force and in 2002 finished fifth at the 2002 US Open. (David Scranage)
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