Sir Nick Faldo

Sir Nick (Nicholas Alexander) Faldo was born in 1957 in Hertfordshire and is the most successful British golfer to date. He won the British Open in 1987, 1990 and 1992 and the US Masters in 1989, 1990 and 1996. This put him at the very top of the golfing world’s tree and his popularity in Britain soared. He was voted the BBC’s ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ in 1989. Perhaps the only blot on his career was his disappointing spell as Ryder Cup captain in 2008, when Europe were defeated.

He won thirty titles on the European Tour and was picked to be on Europe’s Ryder Cup team for eleven successive series from 1977 until 1997, a testimony to Faldo’s complete dedication to the sport. In addition to playing, he operated a golf course design business from 1991 and has set up tournaments for young aspiring golfers. After retiring from playing in 2015, he focused on his career as a golf commentator and analyst in the USA until 2022.

(Image: Steven Newton at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)