Nick Faldo 1993 The Open Championship - 11th Hole

[golfmaniac007]

wow.....he even hovers a 3 iron.

[jcsfx77]

Best swing ever. Shame he wasn't paired with Norman that day, I reckon ol Greg would have shot 82 and lost by 10 ;)

[ScruffyNick33]

how good was his swing then......lovely strike and what a true great player, 6 majors wow!

[emncaity]

That final round was one of the most unbelievable things I've ever seen, absolutely up there with NIcklaus/Watson at Turnberry or even Jack's '86 Masters. Faldo was brilliant, but Norman was even more brilliant and totally deserved to win, in one of the greatest final rounds ever shot in a major championship.

[tinoshep]

in good nick again

[stevepising]

faldo inspired me as an 8 year old kid when he won the open in 87. he then won in even greater style in 90 afnd 92.

i prefer to watch tapes like these than the bomb and gouge shit today. wonderful rythm to his action.

[emncaity]

@stevepising

Tighten up fairways and make missing fairways and greens actually penal again, and you'd see about how far bomb-and-gouge would get these guys. Might see another Faldo emerge under those conditions. At the '08 U.S. Open (Torrey Pines), Woods and Mediate went into a playoff with both hitting barely over half the fairways--in a U.S. Open. It's disgusting. All the Tour and its sponsors care about are product.

[crussi]

@stevepising exactly! Look at the guy: pure artistry. I watch Bubba Watson and I want to puke. This guy was Rembrandt with a golf club.

[emncaity]

Still have the VHS tape of the final round of this tourney, with Norman and Faldo going at it. If watching that final round doesn't show you the value of a compact backswing and precise striking (with _both_ of them), I'm not sure what ever could.

I mean, I was a plus-2 before I stopped carrying a handicap, and _still_ when I look at this guy swing a club I think, damn, I'd sure like to learn to play golf sometime. For his years at #1, it was a kind of golf I wonder if we'll ever see again.

[Goynes42]

I laugh when people say "Oh, Faldo hit it so short." That's a 3 iron from damn near 220 yards. That ain't short.

He hit it straighter than almost anybody who's ever played, too.

[ZombieDave2]

@Goynes42 - look at the flag, big wind behind.

[emncaity]

@ZombieDave2

Def. some wind--OTOH, the ball was going 40-60 feet by the hole if it hadn't had a wreck.

Faldo had a lot of distance potential he didn't use. It may be a semivalid criticism that at times he backed _so_ far off full power (after he started with Lead) that it actually hurt his ability to spin the ball on certain kinds of shots, or that he really could've used an extra 15-20 yards on tee shots. But he was one of the distance leaders on the Eurotour in his early days.

[emncaity]

@Goynes42

....with the older ball, and forged blades. I'd give anything to see them make all tour players play persimmon, blades, and a narrow range of balls. Half or more of the marginal guys would have trouble shooting 76.

[themothmanreturns]

@Goynes42 its downwind on a links course, look at the flag, its practically blowing a gale.

[emncaity]

@themothmanreturns

Right, and that's why you hit the 3-iron with a little bump swing like that, like you're trying to hit about an 80-yard wedge, so you can keep the ball down out of the wind when it's _downwind_, too. Real wind players know this; they know not to make every shot a matter of "what's the highest-lofted club I can possibly get there with?" What most people don't know is that before he went to the all-control game, Faldo was one of the longer hitters in Europe.

[nikepumps123]

@Goynes42 not to mention they didnt loft down clubs like now!

[waltercharliesmith]

@Goynes42 i'm not disagreeing with you, anybody who say's he was short is mad. All pro's hit the ball along way, but to be fair its strongly down wind in this clip.

[emncaity]

Man, how much do I miss watching this guy play...

[63Brummie]

@emncaity

me too he was magical at times the ball was on a string.