Nick Faldo - Career In Decline

After 1992, however, Faldo's career was in decline. He won two tournaments and was the runner-up at the British Open in 1993, then only won the Alfred Dunhill Open in 1994. In 1995, he decided to leave the European PGA Tour behind, and join the PGA Tour in the States full time. Though Faldo wanted new challenges, the only bright spot of the mid-to late 1990s was a victory at the Masters in 1996. Even this major win was somewhat tainted. Faldo won in part because leader Greg Norman played himself out of contention.

Faldo's last PGA win came at the Nissan Open in 1997, the same year he won the WA Open. In 1998, he won the World Cup of Golf, partnered with David Carter. This was the first time England had won. Faldo returned to the European Tour in 1999, with a more restricted swing and an inability to putt or chip well. Though Faldo continued to play on the European Tour and in majors, he began preparing for his life after golf in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He became a commentator with columns in newspapers and magazines and an analyst for television, including The Golf Channel. He also founded a company, Faldo Golf, which was planned to build a course in Moscow, Russia.

Summarizing Faldo's approach to golf, Rick Reilly wrote in Sports Illustrated, "That's golf to Faldo—a bicycle to be taken apart, a game to be broken down past wins, past majors, past greatness, past everything, down to the very cogs. Perfect to the tiniest screw, that's Faldo."