Nick Faldo

When Faldo was only 13 years old, he was watching the Masters tournament on television one year when Jack Nicklaus won and decided he would like to try golf. His mother arranged for Faldo to have six golf lessons, and he was hooked. He played his first round of golf when he was 14 years old.

Faldo soon became a good golfer, despite his late start. The sport so captured his attention that it made him lose interest in school. Faldo recalled to Sarah Ballard of Sports Illustrated, "I love school, until golf came along. Then the only thing I was interested in was getting out of the gates as quick as possible and going to the golf course."

When he was 16 years old, Faldo convinced his parents to let him quit school to work on his golf game and become a professional. He played every day all day for

Nick Faldo

two years. The work paid off when in 1974 he was part of an All-England boys golf team. In 1975, Faldo won two amateur championships, the British Youths Open and the English Championship.