Nick Faldo

And Nick, what I want to know is, there's a lot of excitement coming up to Augusta. What do you see happening? What's exciting from your point of view, Well, there's so much excitement. I mean, obviously we're coming off a November Masters, which was obviously very unique and um, you know, the golf course was soft. Dustin john Some played great. He was he was the favorite that week, probably the most comfortable, you know. I was able to walk the range and it was obvious there was a

lot going on last year. Bryson's Chambo, bryson d Chambo, I should say it was was there with carrying all the attention of now hitting the golf ball miles three hundred I was there on the range watching him get two hundred miles and now ball speed and then carrying it three seventies six, which is basically was in the bushes at the end of their wonderful practice facility. So we had that going on at the same time. I walked down the range to Dustin Johnson. He was like,

what's going on up there. That's how he's hitting at three seventy through the air and he Dustin say, I've got a forty seven at forty eight inch drive. He said, I can hit it three forty through the airs, but I don't want to. I just like to hear him it didn't because it's dinky. I like to dink it out there three twenty three. And I'm like, yeah, yes,

me so. And I could tell he was confident, and I challenged to his brother it was a great line from him, and I said, I actually asked him what's he working on and then you know his short game, and he said to me it was quite a statement. He said, you know, he's he's the best field player on tour. And I thought, wow, that's quite a statement. So he said, I can give him a bad yardage and a bad club and he can land that wedge in the right place. And so I thought, I thought, wow,

that's that was an interesting call. And sure enough he then went on and he looked good and once he found his rhythm, especially on that Sunday, that Sunday morning, he came out like anybody, a little little shaky for a couple of holes. Once he belted one drive and got the rhythm going then and that was it was his Master's So that was special November. We've only had

five months in between it. Um, So off we go again, and it's going to be kind of similar story is you know the Masters is um, you know we were we would deem that you've got to be a the longer golfers are going to have a slightly advantage of the tea. You know, if they're longer down there, you've got less club anything. Any time you're getting less than a you know, eight times in your hand, then you can stop the ball how, how and where you intend

to That's that's the Masters. If you're six isnes of fire bind in your hand, then you've got to look for a different landing spot and a different where it's going to finish. So it will make a huge difference, so that the longer hitters are going to have an advantage on their strategy and everything. So and there's plenty of them, Gary, as we know, there's there's many players, even the skinny ones. You know, you can hit it out there and get it to run, and get it

to run up to three fifty. That is the amazing thing. So that's what's really change the game. But as we know the Masters, if the golf was, if the greens are firm, then even even with a short line in your hand, is still going to be sensible. So it's we love it. We love the test that they present for us every year with Nick. If you look last week and I think, and you know, I'm a great fan of deschambro He's a gentleman and a lot of people were very critical of him. Here comes the kuk,

here comes the scientist. Now that Sho was on the other foot, this guy's got a wonderful golf swing and a wonderful short game. And the Arnor Parmer Tournament so much was spoken about. In fact, the whole show was about his long hitting. And yet Westward, who put his ball in a divot in the last hole and couldn't shoot at the fat made a five on a part five with a seven nine in his hand on he lost by one shot. And I said to this one guy, well here, how far was he had driving westward? By

said ninety yards? Well, I said, the way you're talking, he should have beaten him by twelve to fifteen shot, but he didn't. So it's still to me, Yes, long hitting is a great asset. W nobody would ever deny that. But if we look carefully, why deschambro One that week was not because of his long hitting, was because of his patting. He holds, so he puts, and he's got to have a great mind. Nick. As you know, superstars, and I think, personally my own personal opinion, you've got

to win six majors to be a superstar. People use the word superstar too lightly. All of those guys had a special mind, a very very special mind. There was something called it. And can you just just defying it? No? Can an analyst, can anybody? And no, it's it's something that is just what's words indefinable? Is it indefinable? I think so it's gonna be interesting to see. I think a lot of guys I've got a good chance. I'd love to see Rory come out and win the grand

stand would be very very good for golf. Um. You know Justin Thomas, I love the way he gets through the ball. He's a wonderful golfer. You've got then you've got Dustin Johnson who feels very confident there. So there are a lot of fellows that can win. So is going to be a very very exciting Masters. You're right, there's a lot of players who carry you. Justin Thomas looked very impressive some of those swings he made. I

mean TPC saw grasses are very narrow golf course. It's very small greens and you know some of those shots and it's amazing. And they don't know when the last time you played TPC, but you know the ninth Old Gary for us in my day was was a drive, good drive and the three iron over to the right hand tree and you had to get the right angle

to get aware. You're a chippy nine nine on you for your third in the cross Breeds and now they now they go, I mean it's a hitting the tittinger iron over the trees over the left entry, same as they do it hilt in the head. Now the same what is that? That's the same whole fifteen hole at hilt in the head, the same style a whole. They now hit that. Those trees are even higher and it's like never in a million years, but it was a three shop five for us. And now they get there.

You can't believe they can get iron over those trees at times. So so that's the that's the change of the game. Equipment, the golfer, the golfers. It's a true athlete. I mean, Gary, you started this a million years ago pumping iron down in you know, weightlifting, when people said you can't be a weightlift you know, and you you took a huge to be honest, you took a huge risk because we didn't have the science there and we didn't. We didn't. You just did it. You did it to

just get strong. Now they know how to the science to get spitter, faster, stronger. That is the huge difference now we know you Nowaday, we were all told against because of our equipment. People don't realize why didn't we hit it further well with an old persimmon head, chunk of word, a steel shaft, a rubber golf ball, um,

which wasn't always round. You know, people don't realize, they don't realize that wow, even you know, even I carried a ring gage the double check that quote somewhere of somewhere knock round someone was slightly bigger than the others, you know, so we had to double check, and we didn't know the science in our equipment. Then it felt good, It looked good and felt good, but we didn't know, and we adapted to the club. That's and now you used to hit a driver and you go a little go,

a little right up, and it looks good. And the guys I don't want to reach shafted again because if I cracked their head, you know I could. And he said, all right, I'll use it. I know when I get nervous, this one will go a little to the right or and so you compensate. We learned, you know. So now you stand up, make swings, and they build the clubs to you absolutely perfect, and you don't have to know diddly about your golf clubs. Your technician will give you.

You'll hit the balls, a technician will tell you what to do, how to do it, and you walk away with a set of clubs that matches you and your swing absolutely perfectly. So and the kids can get this a college. Now, that's the other amazing thing that the rubbish we used in our early days apps at rubbish

the clubs were compared to now. Yeah, so that all those things have made a huge difference to the quality of the golf and why we've got you know why the golf is the way it is in Well, there's I played yesterday and I'm playing with the man and he's hooking the ball. He takes out a spinner and he changes fade. Yeah, I was, I was hitting balls. I went to I went to Taylor Maid and I did you know just exactly what you can do? I go and I said, look, I haven't got anything that's

fit me for a set of clubs they fit. So I've got a fire wood that just keeps going left. And the guy just goes and puts a little moves the center gravity around inside it for me, I mean moves moves that and then I now so and then hit a little face. I had a fight. Would I couldn't it would just I said, how come I hit shot good? Shot? Three? Would? And then I would left I would left foot and he goes, it, gives it to me about and then goes and it goes and

I go and it. Next thing, I went to p h G and I was trying to hit the ball with the draw, which I have to in my age, and Ill kempt in in the board the cut and the next shot you start drawing. Actually it's hard. You can never explain to people the equipment we use. And that brings me back to Bobby Jones. Bobby Jones must have been the most incredible golfer. He played with a walking stick with a shaft, no grooves of the club, a golf ball. They win eight yards list. They never

changed the pending. Every day you rate the bankers with your feet. They never had most to cut the green in the fairways. And what a golfer he was. Yeah, I saw a swing I love looking at obviously Twitter or TikTok or whatever. You know, they had a swing of Bobby Jones the other day. And because of because of Hickory, you know, you've got to wait for it, have you, and you get this wonderful syrup swing and if you pull up, I was gonna blurt. U was

doing the commentary yesterday. I was going to blurt out into the kids, pull up the old the old foot is. Pull up Walter Hagen. Walter Hagen swings a hundred years old now and please tell me if you come if it's not good or better. But what is different to today's golfer? Put Walter in um put him meant some polyester with a white belt and they look fantastic, you know, And you know, honestly what I really it's one of the most irritating things that occur with me at the

stage of my life. I keep hearing young players say we're working on the modern swing. I'm dying to hear just one thing anyone. I'm not. That's what I mean. That's what I mean. Well, look, pull out Walter Hagen and tell me I would you can't. I can't falt it, gets gets the left heel loft the ground. You know, he's got his long, beautiful back swing. He's got almost like he's elite travin no extension through I mean, and chases after it does a Gary player walk through. I mean,

it's a it's a it's a vision. But Nick, what is it that they think that there's that's a modern swing? Everything They tried, was tried a hundred years ago. There's nothing that they didn't try a hundred years ago. Nothing. Well, well, yeah, I agree, I agree a dent because you know, if you you know, as I as you get older, you know I did obviously, Look, I did a lot of

work with my golf swing, you know. And when you're when you're talented and you hitting gold pools every day, you can you are fine tuning, and you come up with statements what I'm working on this, working on that, But when you look at what you're actually physically trying to do. I mean, if you take a stick, just a stick, and there's a daisy six inches off the ground, and you say right and not the top of that daisy, you'd go without thinking of it. You just go smack,

you smack all of all the petals. And if somebody filmed that, they said that's a gold swing. But then somebody will then go, well, you've got to keep your right elbow into your body and you've got to do this. You've got to do that. You've got to and you go, hang on a minute. If I just stand out and whack a stick, you know, and just whack something for fun,

what does it look like? And so I think that I think it's you know, every coach wants to come up with their own interpretation, their own you know, they're analyzed, you know, as as we're saying, it's just say, if if we had a hundred coaches analyze Walter Hagen swing, you know they're going to come up with was a hundred different ways of presenting that too, you know, and some of these strong believers and one thing and someone strong. But then you go, that's what I learned from pictures

because I didn't I didn't need works. I used to go through the golf books and I never I never forget the golf magazines, and I never forget. They showed, they showed all the European golfers at the time when you're playing the European Tour, and they were impact in a certain position, and and and I thought, and then you turned the page and there was Byron Nelson at impact and it looked different. And there's Barron Nelson with fifty wins and these guys having up five wins between

all of them. And I thought, I'm gonna look at Baron Nelson swing rather than these guys swing. So I learned from I learned from I learned from pictures. I mean even great Hogan books and Jack's books and everything and your books. I just looked at pictures and thought, oh if I get in that position, and I translated it myself rather than reading the words, how somebody is because everybody says some things like you know, Jack says, I play with my hands. Now even Jack said that,

so you go, Jackson Hampet. Of course Jack felt like he played with his hands because his body was body action was so perfect. So when your body action is perfect, you can forget about it because it's it's doing it automatically. So you then and think, oh, I just played with my hands. So when I read that Jack plays with his hands, well that's not right. That that see you steer you in the wrong direction. So hey, I I

learned from seeing. Seeing was believing from you know, Jack's legs always measured twenty nine inches his thighs, what he's in My waist was nine, So we said, we used to always bring out the tape and never joke about that. But do you know that Jack Nique a drive in Ohio N one and a long driving competition that would and that both three hundred and forty one yards. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well yeah, when you look at something again, they put

you know, we didn't have speed monitors or whatever. You go. Um, you know when they put again back to back, they put Jack swing in a Brison swing, and wow, it was in. Jack was keeping up, but it was the same, it was the same speed coming down. So we all know that Jack had under his shirt he believed he could have got up to hundred with a piece of a cemet which was unhurt. So that's why Jack was had that ability when he won. And again, but with

the equip we played within ourselves. We were all told, whether rightly or wrong, because you know, play at eight percent, stay under control. I always said, if I want if i'm if it's a seven one and I need to and I want to hit it further, I've got a six in the bag, I don't crunch the seven. Well, now now you crunch the seven. You you have. You know, some guys have different speeds, or some guys go at

one speed. You know, so because again the equipment, they might say just go with one speed, just go with one swing. Because the clubs do an awful lot of work for you. You know, invariably people say the Masters is the greatest sporting event in the world today, and well, you know, the great thing about the Masters is, um the quality of everything. Um. It really is prist in every single inch inside the roads and even outside the ropes.

I mean even you know, it's expanding. You can even when you drive the the boundary road outside the golf course, everything is in place. There's never a piece of litter or anything or wire anything out of position. It's still it's manicured from So that is what makes it so special, in the quality everything they do. Burtman's if you ever have given get the opportunity. It's a big corporate ticket, but Burtman's is the most amazing set up, the most

amazing experience that I've ead. You know, the quality of the mask is obviously very different, and then you go to the ruggingness of the Open. The Open is on a piece of links land on the coastline when it's blowing and everything, and that's sort of and it's a

completely different test. Yet and we're obviously being a British lad you know, the openers obviously arias to me, but the Masters, because of the timing of you know, we finished normally finished in the last major used to be the PGA in August, and then he went all the way from August April thinking and talking about the Masters. So it was it's the It's even in my day when I first remember my dad said, do you know when you won the Masters? That was in five thousand

different newspapers across the world. So it's the publicity wise, it's uh, it's the biggest one. But you know, in tradition, obviously open is older and what happ is so they're both. They're both very special to us, and they and meeting President Eisenhower and Bobby Jones, who I admire so much, and Clifford Roberts and as you say, it's without a question, the best run tournament in the world. But you know, Bobby Jones was he had a great command of the

English language. And I'll never forget us cutting his meat because he was riddled with our writers and Augusta and I put the fork in his things like this, and he, you know, sort of jabbed the meat and nice said Mr Jones, I'd love to ask you a question. Uh, you know, I can never birdie the third hole He put his head down and he said, you're not supposed to birdie the third hole, you know. Of course they put that flag in that position. Now he beat as

they stay in Scotland, turning in his grave. Now they take a three wood and they hit it on the green. But Nick, we haven't. This is only to start they in an extra amount of years time. I don't know how long I've gone profess that, but they're going to carry the ball past where deshambro lies lands now or ends up. Now, you've gotta have coming in because of the longevity of golf million dollar first prize. Every week

you can finish thirtieenth and make sixty grand. And they're going to have these big football players come out like Lebron James, And I promised you they're gonna whip it way by where deschambro ever did, unless unless they come to their senses and do something about the ball. Well, anything I'm worried about that, Gary, is that as you get older, we we traditionally sit next to each other at champions dinner, and we've done that for moons. Now moons, am I going to have to cut up your meal?

You're gonna have to cut up? Am I gonna? Am I gonna have to cut up your shrimp? Shrimp? I can still manage to put my mouth on it without cutting. He did, he did. He choked to that a couple of years ago. He's swallowed. He's talking like he does swallowed. You are right, Gary, Oh my god, As long as I but as long as I can remember you, that's important, God, Dave I Gus. You can remember my name and what you're eatings are shrimp, then you'll be fine. So what's

your what are you? What is your favorite holder on golf? Oh? Number eleven, white dog? Would you know? Nobody? Nobody? I got the rare distinction that you know, to win back to back was I was only the second man after Jack, So that was great and so obviously and to win and the playoff is gonna is obviously never happened before. And to win on the same hole in a playoff will never and now it will never, never, ever ever happen again because they played they played the tenth in

the eighteenth in the playoffs. So I've got that. So it's very special to me. And the and the funny the funny thing is, you know, now I'm in commentary, and how we we always put up, you know how they played the whole throughout the week. So they put up. And when I went te Dolph in eight nine, they put up my scores bogey bogey, bogey bogey. So I boged it. I boged it every day. Oh so what what chance have I gotten? If I was doing the comment chart and I would have said, out walk in mate,

there's no chance you can win. And I make a three? Did I make a three? I might hold up hold the greatest long part of my the sweetest, the sweetest long thirty foot of my life. And again it was a driving the three iron. It was wet, It was wet, It was wet and dark, and I hit a three iron out my boots and I saw this thing turn and it was so dark I honestly couldn't see the I couldn't see the ball on the green at about sixty yards short of the green. And then I got on.

I got on the green there and my Caddy Andy Project from Watford comes down to me and I said to me, what do you think, Project? And he said, oh, it all looks a bit of a blur to me. GV. So I said, so all right, you get up there and hold the flag. You get out home. And I stood over the part and I was squeezing the blood out the grip. You know, I said, relaxed, let go, And I had a really technical thoughts that week. I took it back with the left hand and hit it

with the right hand. I just went left right and it went shook and it was in. So that was that was a very amazing special moment for me. Obviously, I get I get very emotional, you know, I was. It comes what's it was thirty years celebration last year, so I got one of my twenty. Now it's twenty five years since my last week anniversary and this is my sixtieth anniversary. Wow, So you know, it's it's a wonderful thought. But the leventh hole has had a lot

of very interesting things happen. If you look at Larry Mys and Greg Norman, what happened there that was really the mat And you the reason why I like a leven because you stand on the fairway there in this beautiful elevated tea shooting down between the pines, and then you stand there and you see this een with water on the lift. But at the same time. You see number twelve and all the gallery on the right. It's actually a site to behold, isn't it. It's a great spot,

it really is. Well, let's go to the twelve hold now and think what that coal has done to people's careers. I mean J. C. Sneed lost the Masters because of the hole. I think Weiskoff made a seven order and eight Molinari, who, funny enough, we haven't heard of a game. Strangely enough, he was the leading player in the world at that time and the guys making three of them making a five. Yeah, I mean, and then what happens with Tiger? That was just you could sense it was

going to happen. That was you know, Tiger was the old war horse at that time, and and you know I felt if he could just hang behind everybody and wait for them more suddenly to think, well, I'm trying to win the Masters, and it happens exactly that, and and you know it's and this is a brutal game, because you're right, Mulinari was the most consistent, had the most wonderful year before Wednesday Open. When's the winning point? When's the winning points? At the Ryder Cups as a

fantastic five points at the Ryder Cup. Everything's going great and then it's literally one shot, one bad experience, and it just knocked him for six and still and it's still knocked him for six. He's not the same goal for he's trying to come back again. But it is ridiculous how one one poor shot or one great shot can turn your whole career. And that's that, that's the harshness of a game. But you know, we love that whole it's it is. It's a hundred fifty two yards

of scare factor because anything can happen. It is and you know, to describe it to people never been there, it is really three greens. It's obviously left section, as a middle section and a right section. And the secret is whichever section you're playing for, stick stick to that. Don't change your mind because if you go for the middle for safe when the pin's left and you think, oh, and you change your mind, I still like to go for this, well, then you've got the wrong yardage, wrong club.

You go long. If you go in for the middle for safety you think we'd love to go for the right, then you don't have enough yardage and a short and you come up short. So that's that's the hardest. It is discipline. Um, the easiest one is that the left side, because you're forced to go for it. The middle one is very skin it's only eight yards deep in the middle between the two bunkers, and so that's nothing when

the winds swirling. And of course the right one. It's the most wonderful thing about the Masters is you know, every we've all seen success and tragedy on literally every hole, every shot. So when you look at that right hand pin, you also always there's a moment ago and I remember so and so coming up short and long and daddy. So you have to you have to fend up not even your memories other pictures from the past in a way to go, yeah, this is this is scary, I know this is this is a this is a risk

going for this. So am I going to take it on? Well, if all the if all the numbers compute, then you go for it. If it's but if it's if you're an in this, if you're suddenly in decide some indecision, you've got to find a yard is is that you are in decisive about moving your targets and That's again a tough discipline when you're looking at fact thinking I really want to go for it, but now I can't. I've got to got to steer away, come up with a whole new number, whole new shot, and then go

for that and then be happy with it. So that's that's what you go through each time when you're playing there. That if it's all, if it looks good, feels good, you go for it. But if you're in doubt, then you've got to be how do you deal with playing with that? Moving your target? That's that's that's the skill of strategy there, you know, Nick, the twelfth hole, I don't even remember. I might have been in fifty two occasions,

I don't remember knocking it in the water. Always made sure there because the winds were swirling and when the flag was on the right, I always aimed at on the right edge of the green and made sure I had a draw because you don't cutting the ball into those little trade winds as we call it. You know you're going and I mean, look what happen Defred Couples. That was a miracle. What happened to Fred couple sticking on their bank. Once you start your mental preparation for

the Masters. Um A bit like TPC. It's such a great hole that seventeen hold you. You start once you get start driving to jack Jacksonville, you start thinking of the seventeen and you think, how am I going to play? You ever say, no, my wages at nine ees are great. You don't think of it. But if you to go and blow me I've pulled I've been pulling my nine eine, then you have to go and practice it. So yeah,

I you have to mentally prepare yourself for that. And it's and it's not just the shape of the shot, you know, it's picking the right club, it's the strike you missed. Hit it a hare and it goes up and floats in the wind. And even worse, you do everything perfectly and then the winds. You obviously can't judge the wind a d percent what it's doing up there.

If it's swirling, I've seen the ball just stay in the air for Curtish Strange well, that one when it stayed in the air forever and ended up halfway up the bank. And then the next day you almost hit the same club and you can come up short. I mean, that's what So that's the other scary thing as well, because I did everything right, I hit it perfect, and it still comes up wrong and causes or costumes steally. You know, the first time I ever played that tournament.

I'm watching Hogan and Snead debatably the debatably too well, you've got to rank him up with anybody they've ever lived. Basically, they went to war for five years and never played in majors in their prime, and then they had the car accident Hogan, So Hogan never played in his prime thirty majors. Can you imagine what he would have done? His hands, unfortunately, really don't mean much. But Hogan hit first and hit the seven nine and went to the back of the green, and Snead took an eight iron

and went in the water. As you say, those wouldn't swirl there. And there's no question of all the holes on that golf course. Number twelve gives you the creeps because you stand on you stand on the tea and you look at the eleventh hole, which is adjacent, and you see the flags going downward, and yet the flag it rolls into the wind. Yeah, well, yeah, I think you had to. Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to think. You know, I used to try obviously take hitting lower

in there because it stayed on a better trajectory. I mean, as soon as it gets up, then it's you know, it's in the swirling breeze. So um, yeah, I did reasonably well. I made I made my grades is up

and down. I've been talking to bunker play. My best bunker shot of my life probably I plugged it in the back bunker in the last round and you know, with the pin and looking back, I've got plugged like flag water and I managed to just give it a pop and it came out just to three yards, just just staying on the other side of the green and then I hold the part. So that was probably my best or one of my most memorable bunker shots that I managed to managed to pull off. So yeah, it's

it's a great hole. And that's that's the the great thing about again. We're all into the length. And you know, if you can design a hole like that which creates a bit of fair factor with a nine or seven nine for these you know that we don't need length, and we don't need length, but if it's just a ballpark, they're just hitting it into well, then we do need length.

Nick I played the twelve hole, uh, and I buried the ball in the back lip, and I wanted to call for an unplayable line at the Harvey Rainer was rules official at that time, and he told me where I had to drop it, and I didn't like it made it worse, so I try to just chop it into the bunker and then try to get up and down the next one. And it came at a bit fast, balanced in the banquet, hit the lip, bounced up in the air, went in the hole. Your yours were skilled,

Mark was luck. Don't forget to subscribe to the Player series on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.