Sir Nick Faldo enjoyed a fabulous career in the game, and his success all started at The Open Championship in 1987 at Muirfield.
In typical Faldo fashion, his win at The Open came about with a lot more methodical precision than flair.
The Englishman went on to win a further five majors after his Open triumph in 1987, the tied-12th most of all time.
Faldo also firmly established himself as a Ryder Cup legend over the next decade or so.
He may not have been the most popular player amongst his peers but that was only because he was so focused on being the best version of himself out on the golf course.
Faldo had a one-track mindset, and that involved his ambition to become the best golfer on the planet.
He went on to become world number one for 97 weeks in total. However, it could be argued that he wouldn’t have been able to achieve what he did in the game without getting over the line at Muirfield 38 years ago.
How Nick Faldo won the 1987 Open by doing something incredibly rare
Faldo entered the final round of the 1987 Open trailing Paul Azinger by a single shot, after rounds of 68, 69 and 71.
Azinger had been in fine form at Muirfield all week, and he began the final round in very comfortable fashion.
However, as the pressure cranked up on the back nine, the American began to flounder.
On the flip side, Faldo remained incredibly solid, parring every hole on his way to a final round of even-par 71.
Meanwhile, Azinger bogeyed his final two holes to miss out on the Claret Jug to the Englishman by a single shot.
Faldo’s final round consisted of 18 consecutive pars – something that hadn’t been done before during the final round of a major championship by someone who went on to win, nor has it been done since.
Faldo’s final round at Muirfield was a sign of things to come. He forged a fearsome reputation as someone who never folded under pressure, and a player who simply didn’t make mistakes under the gun.
Nick Faldo’s record at The Open
Faldo is one of the most successful golfers in Open Championship history.
Only three players have won the Claret Jug more than the 67-year-old since the second World War – Bobby Locke, Tom Watson and Peter Thomson.
Here is Faldo’s career record at The Open:
| Achievements | Faldo’s record |
| Appearances | 37 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Top-5s | 8 |
| Top-10s | 13 |
| Top-25s | 19 |
| Missed cuts | 10 |
Seven of those missed cuts came in his final seven appearances when he was well past his best.
Aside from those poor finishes, his record at The Open is exemplary.
He demonstrated incredible mental strength and sheer determination during the final round of his win at Muirfield way back in 1987.
And he will surely look back on that tournament now as the foundation of the wonderful career that he went on to build.