GWD_MAY_16

AUGUSTAA
Exclusive Interview
FALDO’S
2016
FINEST HOUR
In 1996, Nick Faldo pulled off one of the greatest final round comebacks in Masters
history when he overhauled arch rival Greg Norman’s seemingly impenetrable sixshot
lead. In his own words, Faldo re-lives the drama of the closing 18 holes.
Of all the competitive
rounds I’ve played during
my career, the one people
want to talk to me about
the most is the 67 I shot
on the final day of the 1996 Masters
with Greg Norman. I’ve lost count of the
number of times, people have come up to
me and commented on how calm and
confident I looked that day. If only they
knew the real truth! In all honesty, I was
fighting inner battles with my swing and
my mind the whole week. Throughout
the entire final round, I was constantly
having to step in and out of focus, prepare
and re-prepare to hit each shot as I fought,
not just to rein in Greg’s six-shot lead, but
to keep the mechanics of my swing under
control and repeating consistently. Under
the circumstances, it probably ranks as the
the greatest round I have ever played
mentally. Here is how the day unfolded.
I remember heading to the 10th tee,
as I always did on the first
practice day. I skied my
drives on both 10 and
11. It was an
inauspicious start, not
helped by Jerry Pate
walking past and saying,
“That’s too quick, too fast.”
My swing thought for the
rest of the week was to slow
my swing down for a ‘softer’
transition. In those days, I liked
having a motto or a catchphrase to help
keep me focused. Thanks to my daughter
Georgina, I swung the club with the
thought ‘Powerpuff Girls’ in my head.
They were all the rage back then and
Georgina was a big fan. I was keeping it
all soft and trying not to ‘burst the
bubble’ as I moved through impact.
Because I’d been losing my tempo and
blocking shots to the right, all of my
swing thoughts that week were designed
to keep my swing smooth and on plane.
So you can imagine what I thought when
I discovered I was paired with John Daly
in the first round. But to my surprise,
I played all right and shot a very creditable
69, which did me the world of good.
However, Norman had opened with a
nine-under par round of 63, so
I was already six shots back.
I hit some great shots in the
second round. My drive on 13
springs to mind. I turned it
round the corner there and only
had a 6-iron or 7-iron left into the
green. My five-under par round of
67 moved me up to second on the
leaderboard, four behind Greg,
who I was then paired with on the
Saturday afternoon.
LEFT: Greg Norman falls to his knees
after his chip for eagle on the 15th hole
narrowly missed the hole.
The conditions were tough for scoring
over the weekend and my 73 to Greg’s
71 meant I now trailed him by six again,
although I’d done just enough on the day
to ensure that I was in the final group
again on Sunday. I think I delayed talking
to the press after the round because
I wasn’t happy with my game. I’d blocked
a horrible 6-iron into the right bunker at
16 and I headed straight for the range to
try and sort things out. I was looking to
get the butt of the club heading towards
my right foot as I started from the top.
My expectations on Sunday were
optimistic. Greg had a big lead,
but sometimes that can add to the
pressure and make things harder. Ed
Sneed had led by five in 1979 and was
unable to get the job done. I just told
myself that if I could get within three
then I might have a chance.
At the 1st hole, Greg pulled his tee shot
and dropped a shot. The deficit was
now five. As we stood on the second tee,
I watched as he regripped his club 12
times at address. I thought then that he
didn’t seem comfortable and that moment
gave me confidence.
My tee shot on the par-3 6th was
another massive swing in my favour.
I’d just bogeyed the 5th, but then
managed to find the top plateau six feet
behind the hole with my tee shot. Any
May 2016 Golf World 59