Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo, MBE, was born on 18 July 1957. He is an English professional golfer and television commentator who retired from both professions. A top golf player of his era, legendary for his dedication to the game, Faldo was ranked as No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for a grand total of 97 weeks. His 41 professional wins consist of 30 victories on the European Tour and six major championships: three Open Championships (1987, 1990, 1992) as well as three Masters (1989, 1990, 1996).

Golfing Career

Faldo started his career taking lessons at Welwyn Garden City with a set of clubs borrowed from his next-door neighbour. Faldo was hooked when he was 14 while watching Jack Nicklaus play the 1971 Masters on TV. Only three years later, Faldo qualified to play in the 1974 English Amateur at Woodhall Spa.

Golfing Career Highlights

At the 15th tee at Muirfield in 1992, with only four holes to go in his golfing tournament, Nick Faldo lay two shots behind leader John Cook. Having begun the final round with a four-shot advantage, the Englishman’s attempt at winning his third Open Championship in six years was up in the air.

But Faldo had been working for nearly 10 years to conquer this exact situation. Under the most strenuous of circumstances, England’s most successful golfer was stoic and relentless. Something clicked with his mental strength. He to himself as he walked off the 14th green: ‘Just forget everything. You’ve got four holes to play so you’d better play the best four holes of your life’.

Ten years earlier, Faldo was not capable of displaying this type of mental stability. In fact, Faldo’s apparent inability to handle the biggest moments forced his hand to make one of the most extreme decisions any professional golfer had made in the last 50 years.

Nine years earlier, during The Open at Royal Birkdale in 1983, Faldo was presenting a very real threat to the leaders over the weekend. It was the then-25-year-old’s very best chance yet to net a major, and he was threatening to come to be the first British Champion since Tony Jacklin in 1969. He learned very quickly that he loved playing with the buzz. He needed that extra bit of atmosphere like you’d find at an online Dubai casino, and he was quite happy.

Golfing Commentator Career

After his illustrious golfing career, Nick Faldo signed onto serve as a men’s golf analyst for the 2016 Olympic Games. With golf’s comeback to the Olympics after a more than 100-year absence, the 2016 Games was Faldo’s first Olympics with NBC Sports Group.

Prior to his retirement, Faldo served as a lead analyst for the PGA Tour on CBS as well as the Golf Channel. Previously he served as a commentator for ABC Sports in 2005 and 2006. Regarded as one of the most successful Britain golfers, Faldo received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in November 2009.

As well as his work as a commentator, Faldo operates Faldo Golf Institute at Marriott Grande Vista Resort in Orlando, Fla., and Faldo Design, a growing course-design company.