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Prioritizing golf Faldo hoping to Master golf again
Posted: Thursday March 30, 2000 12:43 PM
I was finishing off an interview with popular French golfer Jean Van De Velde in the lead-up to the BellSouth Classic this week when a familiar English accent chimed in, with just a hint of irony: "We've got another one here too!" I turned around and saw a baseball-capped Nick Faldo standing there at the Sugarloaf Country Club in Atlanta, happy to speak to World Sport before heading out for his practice round. It had been a busy afternoon for our crew, catching the thoughts on-camera of other former Major winners including Greg Norman and Nick Price, but we were delighted that Faldo had agreed to our interview-request as well. After working with Faldo at several tournaments over the past decade, I've always found him pleasant and highly professional and I was delighted that the 42-year-old from Weybridge in England chose to speak to us candidly about the recent dip in his career. "Technically, the golf-swing went out of whack on the golf course and off the golf course my private life went out of whack as well," Faldo told us. "So it's been a bit of a road, but things have sorted themselves out. Finally I've got back to a more stable lifestyle and obviously I'm now able to make golf my priority again." Over the past 18-months, Faldo has broken up with his American girlfriend and ended long-term arrangements with his caddy and his coach, David Leadbetter. The six-time major winner has struggled to make cuts and has looked only a shadow of his former self. But Faldo, who finished in a tie for 53rd place at last week's Players Championship in Florida, says he believes he's making progress again with his game. "The swing technically is very good...I'm very pleased with that," he said. "It's just a case of fitting in the right shots on the golf course and scrambling well and putting well. Hopefully the more I practice and the more I play the better it gets." His friend Nick Price thinks Faldo can get some improved results in the U.S. and Europe, but isn't sure if he will ever be able to reproduce his former greatness. "I think he's got off track with his swing," Price said. "He changed coaches, which I think was a really bad mistake because he'd done so well with Leadbetter." "I'm sure he'll be back and play well again, but whether he reaches the heights he achieved early in his career, that remains to be seen." After winning the Masters for the third time in 1996, Faldo's career fell on hard-times, with just one victory in the four years since. Last year, he failed to make the cut in the British open for the first time in 24-appearances and was left out of the European Ryder cup team. Faldo is hoping a return to Augusta for this year's event will help re-ignite his career and bring back uplifting memories. "Every time you back there, obviously there's a feel good factor." Faldo said. "I feel that I belong there. I feel good there. It's always a nice feeling to feel important at a golf course." "I'm still hungry, I wouldn't be out here. I'm still keen to get out there and play well and see what I can do and get back in there. And see if we can finish it off somehow." He's rightfully been described as the greatest player Europe has ever produced, it would be a shame if Nick Faldo's recent struggles overshadowed an otherwise magnificent career. Jason Dasey is a co-host of "World Sport," the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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