The Masters: Greatest Champions in Tournament History
By Tim Letcher
Nick Faldo (winner in 1989, 1990 and 1996)
During his playing days, Nick Faldo was seen largely as impersonal, non-emotional and robotic. And those were his good qualities.
But the Englishman could play the game of golf. During the late 1980s and the 1990s, there weren’t many players in the world better than Faldo. Between 1987 and 1996, Faldo won three Masters titles and three Open Championship titles. He got as close as second in the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, although he was never able to win either.
Faldo’s 1989 title was impressive because he rallied from five shots behind on Sunday, shooting a 7-under par 65 to get into a playoff with Scott Hoch. The playoff was memorable because, on the first hole, Hoch missed a two-foot putt to win, and Faldo birdied the second playoff hole to win.
The next year, Faldo became the first back-to-back Masters champion since Jack Nicklaus, who won in 1965 and 1966. Faldo’s second green jacket was also won in a playoff that he got into with a big weekend. Faldo shot 66 on Saturday and 69 on Sunday to tie Raymond Floyd at 10-under par. Again, the playoff went to a second hole, where Floyd hit his ball into the water, and Faldo won again.
His third and final Masters title was perhaps even more dramatic. Faldo had been chasing Greg Norman all week, but trailed the Australian by five shots with 18 holes left to play. But in a final round that absolutely no one saw coming, Faldo shot a 5-under par 67 while Norman exploded to shoot a 6-over par 78. So, after Faldo trailed by five shots entering the day, he won by five shots in the end.
The title gave Faldo three Masters titles, something only seven other players have ever accomplished.