Nick Faldo won six majors throughout his career, but his come-from-behind victory against Greg Norman at The Masters in 1996 was undoubtedly the most unexpected of the lot.
30 years ago, Faldo began the final round at Augusta National six shots back of the champion-elect, Norman.
However, the Englishman ended up beating the Australian by five shots after shooting a sublime round of 67 on the final day of The Masters.
Nick Faldo has often said that round of 67 was the greatest of his life and it’s no surprise that he thinks that.
Faldo is one of the greatest European players of all time, and the three Masters wins he has to his name have been bettered by only three men – Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer.
The Englishman now gets to return to Augusta National every single year as a result of his success in the tournament, while Norman will never get to experience what that feels like.
Nick Faldo quickly noticed Greg Norman’s ‘weakness’ on Sunday at the 1996 Masters
Faldo spoke about the final round of the 1996 Masters during a special documentary on Sky Sports in the UK.
The six-time major winner explained the moment when he knew he had a real chance of overturning the deficit he faced.
“I thought if I could get within three with nine to play I’d be alright,“ Faldo said.
“I had the freedom because I was chasing and I had great consistency in my game. I knew what I was doing and I knew how to do it.
“It was just a case of go and get on with it.
“Greg had the honor on one and he knocked it in the trees left and I made a good, solid four, so I got one back straight away.
“And then he stood on the second tee and I suddenly saw him re-grip his club at least a dozen times.
“I thought, ‘well that was different from yesterday, I didn’t see him doing that’.
“I later learnt he was working on a new grip and you know, that was all part of playing well but on a Sunday, it was now a weakness.
“It’s a new pressure point isn’t it.“
Faldo was spot on there. Norman was clearly feeling the pressure and the Australian clearly didn’t have full trust in his new grip on Sunday at Augusta National.
When Nick Faldo knew he had Greg Norman beat at The Masters
The 68-year-old Englishman managed to narrow the gap between him and Norman to just two shots after nine holes.
And after the 10th, Norman’s lead was cut to just one.
“On the 10th fairway, Greg had a basic eight-iron in,“ Faldo explained.
“He pulled it left, jams the chip shot and makes five.
“I didn’t realize until watching it later, he did exactly the same against Jack in ’86 on 10. He pulled it way left. I didn’t know that then and realized 30 years later.
“And I went, ‘ah, maybe that was in his mind before he hit the shot’.
“10 was the one for me when I thought he was struggling because that was a straightforward shot.“