| After the splendid year of 1988 where Lyle won on no less than three
occasions on the US Tour,including his never to be forgotten Masters
triumph, his career has sadly suffered a dramatic decline. There had been
the odd success along the way but the late 1990s saw Sandy struggling to return to the heights that he reached in the 1980s.
Amongst those occasional successes was his victory at the 1991 BMW
International Open where he played some superb golf to card a total of
twenty under par. He opened the event in scintillating fashion with two
rounds of 65 followed by efforts of 71 and 67 to secure victory. The
following year the Scot did enjoy something of a resurgence in form and
captured both the Lancia Martini Italian Open and the Volvo Masters on
his way to an 8th place finish in the Order of Merit. The Italian Open
saw Lyle shoot rounds of 66,71,65 & 68 to card a winning total of 18
under par whilst his Volvo Masters win was courtesy of rounds of
72,70,72 & 73 for a three over par total in testing conditions.
Sandy represented Scotland in the Dunhill Cups of 1989,90 & 92 but
failed to add to his Ryder Cup appearances of 1979,81,83,85 & 87
during the 1990s. He collected eighteen European Tour wins in his career. (David Scranage) |
EUROPEAN TOUR VICTORIES.
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of victory Runner(s)-up.
1 3 Jun 1979 B.A./Avis Open −13 (66-71-66-68=271) 3 strokes Howard Clark
2 8 Jul 1979 Scandinavian Enterprise Open −12 (73-69-65-69=276) 3 strokes Seve Ballesteros
3 9 Sep 1979 European Open Championship −9 (71-67-72-65=275) 7 strokes Dale Hayes, Peter Townsend
4 29 Jun 1980 Coral Welsh Classic −11 (72-69-67-69=277) 5 strokes Martin Foster
5 10 May 1981 Paco Rabanne Open de France −14 (70-66-67-67=270) 4 strokes Bernhard Langer
6 7 Jun 1981 Lawrence Batley International −4 (70-70-69-71=280) 2 strokes Nick Faldo
7 25 Jul 1982 Lawrence Batley International −15 (70-66-67-66=269) 2 strokes Manuel Piñero
8 24 Apr 1983 Cepsa Madrid Open −3 (70-69-76-70=285) 2 strokes Gordon J Brand
9 6 May 1984 Italian Open −11 (71-70-68-68=277) 4 strokes Bobby Clampett
10 7 Oct 1984 Lancome Trophy −10 (74-70-67-67=278) Playoff Seve Ballesteros
11 21 Jul 1985 The Open Championship +2 (68-71-73-70=282) 1 stroke Payne Stewart
12 18 Aug 1985 Benson & Hedges l Open −14 (70-69-71-64=274) 1 stroke Ian Woosnam
13 11 Oct 1987 German Masters −10 (72-69-70-66=278) Playoff Bernhard Langer
14 10 Apr 1988 Masters Tournament −7 (71-67-72-71=281) 1 stroke Mark Calcavecchia
15 10 Oct 1988 Dunhill British Masters −15 (66-68-68-71=273) 2 strokes Nick Faldo, Mark McNulty
16 13 Oct 1991 BMW International Open −20 (65-65-71-67=268) 3 strokes Tony Johnstone
17 3 May 1992 Lancia Martini Italian Open −18 (66-71-65-68=270) 1 stroke Colin Montgomerie
18 1 Nov 1992 Volvo Masters +3 (72-70-72-73=287) Playoff Colin Montgomerie
USA PGA TOUR WINS (4).
6 Apr 1986 Greater Greensboro Open −13 (68-64-73-70=275) 2 strokes Andy Bean
29 Mar 1987 Tournament Players Championship −14 (67-71-66-70=274) Playoff Jeff Sluman
31 Jan 1988 Phoenix Open −15 (68-68-68-65=269) Playoff Fred Couples
3 Apr 1988 KMart Greater Greensboro Open −17 (68-63-68-72=271) Playoff Ken Green