A Knight and a golfing legend

My earliest recollection of the newly knighted Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo was back in 1987 at Muirfield in Edinburgh, the site of his first major triumph.

I was 12 at the time - I'd been playing golf for about a year and if I hadn't been bitten by the golfing bug up to the summer of '87 I definitely had by the time July was through.
Nick's final round of that year's Open Championship is now retold as the one round of golf which ultimately defined his character and career and the one that will undoubtedly be retold to many generations to come.

Entering the final round, he had the pressure of the whole country mounting on his shoulders, to be the first Englishman for nearly two decades to win the Open Championship (Tony Jacklin being the previous winner back in 1969).

For those of you not familiar with his round, you are probably thinking to yourself “so what did he shoot then? – 64?'' – in fact it was far from it.

That afternoon Faldo didn't even make one birdie, but he did churn out 18 straight pars and, in doing so, he not only wrote himself into the Open Championship record books, but looking back – it secured his fate as a legend.

I believe Nick Faldo's recent knighthood can only be great for golf, globally. He was a childhood role model (or I guess a hero) of mine and I never once lost an opportunity to watch him play (albeit mostly on television).

Back then, he was the epitome of the modern golfer and he, along with David Leadbetter, were arguably solely responsible for leading the “revolution of reform'' by steering the game towards an era based on technology and science.

In this regard, the decision that Faldo made to remodel his swing in the mid-'80s really paved the way for the modern game to strike.

The new age swing techniques of David Leadbetter, the introduction of training aids, video technology, fitness and well-being suddenly gripped the industry. I still have Faldo and Leadbetter's instructional videos to this day – now they were legendary!

As a Brit, and in the wider picture of the game “an European'', we are desperate for the next Nick Faldo (or should I say Tiger Woods) to appear and take a bearing on the game.

The need for youngsters to have a role model is clearly essential in the development of the game in all countries. We will see it and we are beginning to see it in other nations – take India as a great example.

Jeev Milka Singh is now an icon and role model for the entire Indian population. He became the first Indian in the history of the game to finish in the top 10 of a major championship last year and the impact he is having on the growth of the game in India is truly remarkable.

A lot has been said over the years about Nick Faldo, but one thing you can't take away from him is his contribution to the game. He is indeed a legend of golf.