Sandy Lyle - Part 2 (The 1985 Open and the 1988 Masters)

Bruce Devlin 0:18

In 83 and 84, you you bounced around between Madrid and and the Italian and then back to the trophy land comb. You've you you were you were all over the place winning, weren't you?

Sandy Lyle 0:32

That's right. I mean you all played a European tour, and once that gets going, you're from one country to another country to another country, and uh I did start, I did move uh from the my grounds in Shropshire down to um Wentworth in England, and that that was a big move for me um as far as cost as well. I mean, cost of buying a house down in Wentworth, you know, is is a very expensive place. And uh that was a good move because that that allowed me um to play Europe and fly into Heathrow on the Sunday night, and you know, I can be basically home from getting the luggage, I can be home in 25 minutes, which is uh a big thing to be home Sunday night, home Monday, Tuesday, maybe leave Tuesday evening out to France or uh wherever wherever. So that was um that was a big move for me, and energy-wise as well, because I was living in Manchester, a Shropshire area, using Manchester Airport on a regular basis, and nearly always missing my connection back in Heathrow to get up to Manchester. So having moved down there, um that was a big move to be down in Wentworth as well.

Mike Gonzalez 1:54

So uh you won three times in '84, uh the the last of which was in Japan. So again, as Bruce mentioned, you were really all over the place, but that was in a playoff with with Gary Koch. Gary Coke, yeah. That's a tough trip.

Sandy Lyle 2:07

It is. Um, you're gonna go through uh Heathrow into Anchorage, which is about a six to seven hour flight because you're going against the trade winds, and then there's an hour and a stop, you get off the plane, and you get back on at Anchorage, and then you fly to uh uh Nairita, and then you've got other flights to get from there to get over to Kagoshima. Uh so that's uh another two flights to Kagoshima, and then plus when you're in Kagoshima Airport, you've got a an hour and a half, two-hour drive in a bus to get to the golf course. Uh but I I did the uh Japan trips as basically two or three tournaments. Uh, it wasn't just going all the way out there for one week with the jet lag and playing golf, it was an organized trip for three weeks. So it would start off uh near Mount Fuji area. I can't think of the name of the golf course right now, but then it was the Dunlop Phoenix, which was a there one of their kind of premier tournaments, and then from there we would go to um Kagoshima, which was like a five-hour coach drive from Nairi. I think it's the Nairita, or not Nairi, Kagoshima, Kagoshima, I think it is. So it was a three-week trip. There was a lot of Americans playing there, there was not many Europeans playing there, but we were traveling a bunch of about 12 of us um playing against the Japanese golfers. Uh Tominakijima would be a name, it would be Aoki-san. Uh, there were all these names that were playing around at that time. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 3:49

So let's go uh to the big one, the first big one anyway, which was the 1985 Open Championship. Uh uh before we get into it, just tell us about the state of your game, the state of your mental health and everything going into that week. Uh how was it?

Sandy Lyle 4:06

Yeah. Well, there's a story to that one there. I played in the uh in Ireland the uh sort of week before the Open Championship. And it was in Royal Dublin, I think the name of the golf course was. And I was playing with David Ferretti, the name you might remember, and um and a Mark James, and it was a windy conditions, and I wasn't rolling my rock very well that week. Uh hence why I shot like a 70 plus. Uh I retired after the first round. I didn't complete the first round. I got I was like, I needed to make part of the last hole after laying up with an iron down the fairway for the position on the corner, and then hit the next one with a semi-shank out of bounce, and I was basically wouldn't have broke 90. That was the state of my game at the time. Boy, oh boy, and you're playing with David Ferretti as well, so you can imagine the amount of grief I'm getting from him about James.

Bruce Devlin 5:11

Plenty.

Sandy Lyle 5:14

So I I said it's not worth coming back tomorrow because I'm whatever, 20 over par, or whatever. You know, I've had four putts, I've had bunker trouble, I've had lost balls, I've had all sorts of things going on. It was a meltdown of the uh of the game. Um, so that's really my state of affair before I got to play the open championship, it was only just very quickly coming up after that. Uh, my challenge of shooting 90. Um, I picked another driver up. It was a hand me down by Eamon Darcy, which was a McGregor keyhole. He didn't like it, so he passed it down to Ian Wosnham. Wusney said, I don't I can't hit this, you you want it kind of scenario. So I took it on, but I love McGregor, you know, the persimmon heads with the keyhole insert. I put a propel shaft in. I remember that was multi-steps in, which gave a nice little crack at the bottom. I drove the ball in the open championship really good, and that was half of the battle. I think it was a one-week wonder that driver, because after that it just didn't do deadly squat, and it's now sitting on top of a plaque in my trophy cabinet. That's where the head is.

Bruce Devlin 6:32

That's funny how it works that way, though. You know, so some some weeks it's uh what the hell am I doing out here trying to play this game? And then bang, you win the open. What a win. Win the open championship, yeah.

Sandy Lyle 6:43

So and I had no inner feelings that something big was gonna happen. That was the that was the amazing thing about it. You know, I didn't sort of the last two weeks I've played, I've been hitting the ball exactly where I want it to. I'm making the putts, momentum's good, and the open's coming along. Um bang, it's gonna happen. No, I had no idea. There was nothing at all to say, I just hung in and hung in and hung in. But I drove the ball well, so I always felt there was I'm making pars, and there was a lot of interruption with weather during that week. Um Payne Stewart, I think, did a marvelous last round of I think it was 67, which was like shooting 10 under on that particular day, and he went from basically the bottom of the field to lying in the clubhouse leader for hour after hour after hour, and he only finished, I think, one behind me, even in the end. So I'll give you an idea of the conditions that we were playing in, and um just hung in. I played with uh Christy Connor Jr., which is about as you know, if you want to play with somebody on the last round and a major, this would be about as nice a guy as you want to play. He's not gonna do anything gamesmanship-wise on you, he's not gonna look at you like a Greg Norman or a Raymond Floyd at you and stare at you and try and sort of put you off. It was as good a uh a guy to play with as you want. And the and the pair of us have played great golf, really good golf, but we couldn't seem to hold a putt between the two of us to save our lives. We were missing everything. And it was going on and on, and I got through nine holes and and twelve holes, and really not much has happened. And then all of a sudden on uh the 14th, I was in trouble, which is the power five. And uh my one trusty one iron had gone left into the rough in a bad lie, which I could only lay up short of the burn. So I was still 220 yards for my third shot with a really strong crosswind, and managed to get the two-iron sort of pin eye, could be 35-40 feet just off the green, and hold up for a four. That was the first breakthrough, as far as oh, yeah. I can actually there is a hole there at the end of it. Yeah, and uh I've got to face number 15, which is a minefield of bunkers uh into the wind, and not gonna be my forte of trying to get the ball on the fairway because it's very, very narrow. And um, I clouded one about as good as I didn't know with maybe 50 balls and never hit one that good with the penetration and the run and position, everything was good. And to give you some idea, I think Christian Connor was hitting a flat out four wood or five wood for his second shot on a par four, and I was hitting a six-iron, and so it's a big difference on ball control and also get the ball to stop on the green. Um really I had a good six-iron into about 20 feet, and then that putt went in as well, and all of a sudden it was like game on. You could tell by the crowd, and then I got an idea on the score that they got a one-shot lead uh with three holes to go. So that was a big moment where you had to sort of swallow and keep breathing and da-da-da-da. Uh, 16, not easy. I left myself about a four-footer, five-footer for par, which I made. Uh 17, nothing's easy, really. And I was just short of the green in two and putted up over the hill or up the hill over the top to about four or five feet, and I made that for par. So these are all good momentum putts where you know it's like, and then the last hole you might have seen many times. I made a bit of a boo-boo with the second shot. The crosswind didn't blow the ball back towards the middle of the fair, middle of the uh middle of the green, and um and end up chipping from the the side of the green with an awful lie, and the ball didn't get up the hill and rolled back virtually to my feet. Putted down to about three feet, which was a good putt from there. Yeah, and so I mean you think in the back of your mind like all golf is too cool. I'll just hold this, I'll just hold that. Maybe lightning's gonna strike this time, or I'm gonna miss this three foot, and it'll be a crime shame to go this far in the round just to let it all go. But uh managed to grab enough patience and breathing and and control of my muscles and hold a pup from about two and a half, three feet for the for the five, and had to wait probably 35-40 minutes to find out what Langer or David Graham coming down the stretch about two holes behind me. Eventually with a one-by-one shot was game over.

Mike Gonzalez 11:46

Yeah, you mentioned David Graham. Uh you and he were tied on the lead after two rounds, and then uh you were actually three back of David and uh and Langer after uh after 54 holes. Uh I know uh Bernhard, who we're gonna talk to tomorrow, he must like Royal St. George's too, because I think he's got maybe two seconds and a third there or something in his career. So he's played quite well there. Uh he's never played badly.

Bruce Devlin 12:11

No, he doesn't play bad, does he? Anyway.

Sandy Lyle 12:14

Even a year older than me, he still doesn't play badly. Uh it's just amazing uh new look at his uh performances over the years. Um to this day, when he kicks my butt every week on the champions tour. If I can get within two shots of him, I'd be very, very happy. There you go.

Mike Gonzalez 12:34

Well, you mentioned driving the ball well. Uh of course, any of our listeners that know uh Sandwich, in addition to driving the ball well, you still need to get some breaks, don't you?

Sandy Lyle 12:45

Definitely. Um I think Royal St George's um has proven the test over many years. The old lady still shows its teeth, and weather being a big thing, and they keep stretching the course, but driving on that particular course, um, you've got to be pretty accurate. Um, you know, you play St. Andrews, you can hit the biggest snap hook in the world. Right. And you can find another fairway somewhere. You might be out of position, but you find it on another fairway. Where Royal St. George's, uh we saw Tiger Woods some years ago when he had a three-yard on the first hole. And I don't know, 7,000 people, there's about half a dozen ball spotters there, and they couldn't find his ball. And he's opening very opening T-shot. You know, it wasn't miles offline, it was probably five yards, ten yards offline, because he was allowing for the crosswind and hitting the ball towards the rough, and the ball didn't happen, and uh and lost the ball. So it gives you an idea that the the further wide you go, the heavier the rough gets. And there's been times where it's been very dry during the winter time, and the the people that sort of run the open were a bit worried about the rough at Rolls St. George's, and it's been it's been good. It course has played really good when the rough's down. But when it's when it's been heavy rain and and it's been uh soft and warm weather and lots of rain, the the rough is uh probably as tough as Carnoosty to play.

Mike Gonzalez 14:12

So you were uh the first British winner since Tony Jacqueline, 1969, he won at Lithum, and the first Scott since Tommy Armour, which goes way back, doesn't it?

Sandy Lyle 14:22

Way, way back. And the other thing to point out with you, during after the speeches are made and da-da-da-da, and we go back and sort of recorders area and lots of things to sign. And I kept this uh one guy or ladies or management company from McCormick says, We've got some people from uh um from Presswick Golf Club want to want to give you a belt, the presentation of a belt. And it's like, can't you see I'm busy? You know, they want you want my time to get presented with a belt, and I didn't know anything about the belt. Um obviously it all happened there, but um it's something I'm very proud of because it the Auckland Championship was played for way back in the 18th century as a belt.

Mike Gonzalez 15:10

1860 was the first at Presswick.

Sandy Lyle 15:12

1860. Yep, and then uh Tom Morris Jr. won the belt and they gave him the belt after three years. So in 1871, I think it was, the uh there was no trophy paid for because there wasn't a belt and it wasn't played, it was just scrapped for that particular year. So um coming up uh this year um for the open championship is going to be the 150th anniversary of the belt. And it was 125 when I won it. So I'm out of all the open championship winners, you know, obviously Nicholas and Tom Watson had won it many times, the open, I'm one of the very few that does have a have the the belt. And Louis Louis Oosthaisen, when he won it at St. Andrews, was the 100 and something. Every 25 years they make a replica belt. And so the the only two living golfers right now was uh Louis Oosthaysen and myself have the uh replica belt of the Open Championship. So that was something I was just lucky back in 85 when I won it, uh, was one of the belts, and there will be another belt uh producer getting honored with the belt. Uh whoever wins the open uh this year.

Mike Gonzalez 16:32

Hmm. Well that's that's pretty cool. Uh I I know at Prestwick also they're commemorating uh it's either the 150th uh or it's uh an anniversary of uh of old Tom Morris's uh birth. But uh uh for the members in October, they're gonna set the course up, the original 12-hole layout, the way it was, for the members to play for about a week. And uh possibly I thought that would be good. Kind of funny. You know, the last time I was there, I went up and visited with the club archivist, and he took me up into the catacombs where they store all this stuff. And he opened a book. It had for the first 10 or 12 years of the Open Championship, it had all of the original scorecards.

Sandy Lyle 17:11

Okay.

Mike Gonzalez 17:13

So you you might remember the story of young Tom Morris recording on the first hole, which was a par five measuring about 582. And remember, imagine this with a feathery with a feathery. He makes a deuce. Oh my gosh. Yeah, maybe. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I think it's I think it was a three. I think it was a three. I think it was a three. Yeah, and what was interesting, trivia question was did anybody else even make a birdie? So I went through every card for the first 12 opens, and I did find one guy that had made a four, but young Tom Morris carded a three on that hole, which most people don't believe if they've ever played a feathery ball. Yeah.

Sandy Lyle 17:58

So I'm a I'm a little bit better on the history now of the open championship, and it was a belt and then I did air. So uh I was clueless when I won it, but I am more up to date now. There you go.

Mike Gonzalez 18:10

So, how did champion golfer of the year change your life, Sandy?

Sandy Lyle 18:17

Well, I think that's a very good question. Uh any big sport or any sporting thing like a gold medal in the Olympics or a big trophy in golf, uh, it changes your life. You got the right manager, the backing, uh, opens many doors. Um, so you become a PR thing as well. Um, if it's clothing or if it's equipment. Um there's a lot of things. Um, if your face fits, um you know, there's endless amount of uh pictures to be taken, meetings to be done, but that's part of the management company to take the weight off your back. Because in the end, you know, we've got very short memories a lot of times. You're still gonna go out and play golf. Um so I think having a good backing, a good manager, or a good wife at the time as well, um, all plays a big part on the of the team. You hear uh kind of the top of American players talk about it, you know, we've we've got a good team, I've got a good nutritionist, I've got a good back specialist, I've got a good mental thing, I've got a good manager. Um, it plays a big part in um in helping you to achieve um uh you know high standards and things. And you know, it was unknown to me in my days in the 80s, where you know, if you win a major, you've got to do this, you've got to do that. It's um yeah it's extremely um hard to do. I had some nice letters off various old pros. Um you know, one was from Sevy, um, it wasn't older than much older than me, but uh Bobby Locke had an interesting one as well. I had some, you know, called everybody's called Master. And Bobby Locke would say, you know, it's it's once you get your first one, it's there's more to come kind of scenario. But you have to learn to say no a bit as well, in a nice way. And I think that's quite a big thing that I always remember that you you've got to say no in a nice way. I think it was Arnold Palmer's probably very good at that. You know, he just smiled and put his thumbs up and said, Sorry, I can't play. But he's he's thinking about himself as well. So there's there's ways of doing it, but you you can't really please everybody and be in four places at one time. It's impossible. You can try and do it, but you might run yourself into the ground. I think probably what happened to Jacqueline a little bit, that he was chasing the dollar sign. You know, he he he moved around an awful lot and from house to playing in various countries and overseas here, overseas there, and I think it takes takes it out of you as far as your uh fatigue and stuff.

Bruce Devlin 21:02

So Sandy, you you you just mentioned the fact that even after winning an open, you still have to go play golf. Yeah, it didn't take you, it didn't take you very long to notch up another victory. If three weeks later you win the uh Benson and Hedges and beat Ian beat your old buddy Ian Woosenham by a shot. Ian Woosnum, yeah.

Sandy Lyle 21:21

Well, I think you know we talked about momentum early on, and I think the momentum was still doing well. Um Benson Hedges, of course, I know pretty good. There's a lot of birdies involved. Uh I think I just play good golf and put the scores down, and I think um Woosie did a very good last round of probably about a 63 or something, and I followed it with a about a 67 and managed to uh just stay ahead of him. So it's it's it's momentum, confidence. And we're going into the mid 80s now, you know, when things are starting to uh ramp up as. far as getting uh big tourments under the belt and and so on and so on.

Mike Gonzalez 22:07

We should probably touch on uh this next victory uh on our list which uh I think uh correct me if I'm wrong Sandy was this your first American PGA win at uh Greensboro in eighty six yes yeah it was it was um Greensboro in North Carolina just prior to the uh to the Masters tournament and uh what do I know of that one? I know it was um it was a I think it was a playoff as well with Ken it was actually by by two over Andy Bean at Forest Oaks Country Club Andy Bean Forest Oaks I won it twice there that's why I got a meddled up so that's right yeah won it by two yeah and then uh later on I I think it was eighty eight I played against Ken Green in a playoff in the uh correct exactly yeah yeah so we managed to do that so that was a big week then to obviously win at Green Greensboro and then um to win all see at the masters back in eighty eight so yeah well let's go to the TPC in eighty seven I I think most people that follow golf particularly when you look at year in year out the strength of field they consider that a major or like a major but uh you prevailed in the 1987 TPC at uh at Sawgrass in a playoff with Jeff Sluman and shot a pretty good store scored a boot.

Sandy Lyle 23:31

Yeah I mean uh the 72nd hole I made a long cut uh probably 30 feet 40 feet on the the last hole um to get a good finish but I thought possibly at the top of the head maybe third fourth that kind of thing uh not knowing at the latter end of the field were gonna drop quite rapidly and uh to end up being in a playoff with uh Jeff Sluman and um$180,000 I think the prize money was that particular year. It's a big difference now and you can win 3.6 I think was it 2.6 or 3.6 three 3.6 yeah 3.6 million my god um yeah so finishing the playoff it was in the dark and um that was not a nice experience knowing to win it was a sort of 10 year exemption on the US PGA tour so it was a big thing for me to win so I was determined and more determined not to let that one just slip through the fingers because I knew playing in Europe and then having a 10 year exemption for America that's uh that's a big one to uh to take and um eventually played the 18th holes our third playoff hole in the dark and uh that was probably the most scariest second shot I've ever had to play because it was a five iron about 185 at the time uh pitch dark can't see the even see the pin from back in the fairway I had to walk up forward about 30 yards to sort of see where the pin was and then line it up with the light and the background and then walk back walk back but you don't you you don't realize that your depth perception because it's so dark you look down there and all you see is a fuzzy white cotton ball that's what it looks like it's fuzzy so your depth perception has gone up the shoot and now you stand here with a five iron on a tight fairway on a slope as well trying to hit a five iron for your second shot and you hit it and you know idea where it's going and I hit it quite good and I felt like that's probably okay and there was a little a little flutter with the crowd. So I thought well that's not too bad. It wasn't a big ooh you didn't know water it was and then Jeff Sluman was just ahead of me so he hit his and it seemed like the same kind of reaction to the shot. So we got up there and they can't see a ball on the green or any ball on the green and the pins at the back middle back and the ball both balls come visible just off the back of the green on the short stuff about three yards off the green so that was as good a place to be as anything. And I it was my chip to go first and I put a little bit of sort of top spin on mine and it made it look like the ball or the green was very fast and I went whizzing past about six seven feet. So I think I must have fooled Sluman there because I was encouraging the ball to run.

Mike Gonzalez 26:56

I didn't want it to stick because it was a bit sticky I was encouraging the ball to run so he must have thought oh it's a bit fast down there I better uh the grains going down towards the water what I can see I'll go the the high route so he went the kind of flop shot which he played a nice shot did the what he had to do but the ball stopped dead and finishing like 15 feet short of the pin it was a terrible shot in the end which he missed and um I had to sort of hold the putt from about six to eight feet which I did and that was the game over on that one that was a a marathon week and uh I remember the press conference uh um going on later that evening and they said well you've now won the TPC which we think is going to be our fifth major and you won the the open championship in 85 he said what do you think the difference is so very quickly I said about 150 years was my answer uh well quite a week as you say 10 year exemption I can't imagine how big a deal that is that was the first time that event had a million dollar purse so the money was starting to get real back in that event but uh uh great week great victory um you know that you've got a you've got a few other uh wins that we could just touch on the German masters in 87 in a playoff against longer you won two more times on the on the U.S.

Sandy Lyle 28:26

tour this is an early eight 88 uh coming up to the masters and so you got off to a pretty good start here on the tour in uh in early 88 coming into Augusta didn't you yeah I mean uh the middle of the 80s 85 through 86 you know 87 88 were really good good years and I think anybody who looks back in their career they're gonna pinpoint certain years was good or bad and that uh to me very clearly those sort of four years were excellent on my side momentum was good the results were good and there were spaced out rather than three majors in one year I had you know two majors plus the 80 87 TPC so those were good good times and uh and then still playing in Europe as well plus I got the 10 year exemption so you know as long as I play the stipulated to join with DJ is it 15 at the time yeah I couldn't still 15 and I think Europe's about 13. And I think that was the big argument what Sevy was trying to do uh with Dean Beaman was um to try and bring the amount of tournaments we have to play because in the end if you're playing on both tours that's 28 tournaments you've got to signed up so that's that's a tough one to do. And as you get older as well and you get you you're married or you get kids it's um it's really a bit of a tug on the old heartstrings trying to sort of play those two tours. So it's either one or other but I wanted to try and support both tours playing in Europe and it did it does get better now but at the time it was uh exhausting to try and maintain your hand your not your hand but maintain your card hence why the 10-year exemption in 87 was a was a big thing for me.

Bruce Devlin 30:21

Sure. Then in 88 you uh you got off to a really quick start but I got a question uh you get in a playoff with uh Freddie couples after shooting rounds of 68 68 68 65 and then what happens you you get into a playoff and you win with a bogey on the third extra hole to be a story.

Sandy Lyle 30:46

Phoenix yeah Phoenix yeah yeah well I mean we went round to the 18th he had it straight in the water off the T.

Bruce Devlin 30:54

So he was heading for a a big number and it was a big quick hook as well he went he had a hook on the 72nd I think off the T which ended up a little bit unlucky because it landed over the other side of the water right and went along the side and hit somebody in the back of the leg just kissed the leg and then went back in the water so he made five so that was so he ended up tying so we went down uh I think it was number uh number 10 I think it was 10 yeah 10 and then 17 then 18th uh 17th I don't know if we played 17th but then went up 18th and then he went in the water again off the t-shirt so I've just played sort of conservatively yeah um so yeah it was a good result in the end I mean obviously I felt I was going to get crucified by the fans they all wanted Fred couples to win and I was a complete stranger so but yeah I mean you know playoffs are always hit or miss and you know I've had quite a few playoffs now and I think I've been reasonably fortunate to win more than I've lost yeah and Fred couples obviously a nice skin to to uh to beat but that was early part of the year so I've still got the masters away up in uh in April yeah yeah before before you get to the Masters you did something that not a lot of people have done they won the week before in Greensboro and then come back and win the win the Masters the next week that's that was a pretty hot streak you were on early 88.

Sandy Lyle 32:28

And tiring as well I mean I can just uh you know when you win in Greensboro in a playoff against Ken Green um you know great stuff that uh that gives you an idea that your game's not too bad and you've made a win and you go up to the Masters which is not far up the road from Greensboro and um you know confidence running high but an awful lot of press things to do as far as the overseas press as well the the BBC whatever so my only peace and quiet was getting on the golf course. Yeah when you come off the golf course you're just getting hammered with either radio or it's television da da da da um very very tiring and then obviously leading um and of course in the the early days there the Masters there was no late and early times on the first two you get whatever you get and then if you score well you can play off late right the next day. I was off late about 1230 and that was my earliest time for the week because I was obviously a good first round so I was late the second second day late the third day and then obviously very late on the uh on the last day so um quite exhausting playing in the afternoon when the course has been baked all morning and all afternoon to play a course is probably a shot and a half harder because of the crusty greens and getting faster and a lot of spike marks everywhere too. It might look quite smooth in the old television days but uh nowadays with all this uh high definition you can see a lot of the spike marks on the greens and and you weren't allowed to tap them down either so um it was pretty hard on the um on the confidence level sandy you you led the 1988 masters after 36 and 54 holes uh you you come out uh two under on the front nine why don't you take us through the back nine well I played the first nine and say two under which was um you know a nice birdie uh on ninth which was uh well received I've got a seven iron second shot I mean nowadays they're hitting wedges in there or sundirs I was hitting the seven iron not off a particularly good T shot so it gives you an idea to the front pin position um I made a good birdie on number four um which was almost impossible from over the back of the dream and the pin at the back left um it's kind of a a one in sixty chance or or more and I made a birdie there so things were going my way you know chip in there I think crensure talks about I played with crensure talks about the uh the chip in at number four was was something else that people never seem to remember and so I ended up playing nine holes at two under which was good and uh made a good strong par on on 10th which is good and got up to my second shot at number 11th with a little bit of mud on the ball how it got there I do not know and it was one of those situations I could rack in my brain thinking the mud's on the left side of the ball does that mean it goes left or does it go the other way? So I had to sort of take aim more for the right edge of the green with a six iron and um and the ball wobbled around and that added but it actually finished in a good spot about two feet off the green pin eye on the right was near the bunker which is perfect. I mean that's as good as layup you know I'm happy with that um but the mud is still kind of hanging on the ball and it's right at the contact area where I'm going to hit the putt now and uh I had a go with the putter probably should have bellied it with the sand wedge or something I tried to put it and it didn't do well I wanted to do got a poor contact so the ball finished about eight feet short of the hole it needed to be a fraction harder it would have gone down the slope and near to the pin but so I ended up making five not good and um the eight iron on number 12 was just slightly mishit but not bad probably 95% and a good flight trajectory was just either on the pin or about a yard right of the bunker which was good and it was about three or four feet from its landing area and most times that ball lands there's a good chance it could just pop up in the air and maybe even go forward onto the green but it it jumped up and went backwards just a little bit and that was enough to carry the ball about another four or five yards back down the hill into the water and then proceed to make uh make five from there. So that was bogey double bogey not a good situation and so I'm now probably on the attacking side I'm I think one one behind Kalkovecia or tying one or the other I can't quite remember offhand. Good drive on uh number 13 um you know how hard that is whether driver or three went off the T. And I left myself a seven iron to the green so it gives you some idea how good the drive was and I proceeded to sort of bloop the seven iron a little left of the pin with a draw in it and it lands on the edge of the green but it's about a foot on the wrong side of the edge and it kicks through the valley and up into the left bunker. When I got up there to the bunker shot it wasn't in a particularly good lie. It was a bit cuppy and you know Bruce if you get those kind of lights in the cuppy lie downhill lie it's not coming out with back spin it's coming out with top spin. And I'm worried about actually I'm worried about going through the green into the water the other side trying to get too fancy with it. So I purposely played to the wide side of the green just because of the the way the ball's going to come out and um I got it to 20 feet but I I made par but it was annoying to be so close with the T-shot with a seven you should be able to get the ball in the green in there. So there's a little hiccup but there we go we we've made part and played the 14th really good at a six iron very solid back left of the green where the pin was about eight feet behind the back of the hole and I studied that putt until I was blue in the face and I came up with a line but it was the wrong line in the end and I missed the putt. So it was an opportunity again to sort of make a make amends. Had a good shot into number 15 which went just over the back of the green with a five iron uh chip back almost hold the chip shot to about five feet and that was probably the first time where I really felt the pressure on that five footer it was like putting through nails at the time my hands weren't performing like they should be doing and it was uh like a 64 year old putt would go like you know there you go it was a bit jittery. It might look smooth on TV but it uh it didn't feel smooth and I didn't hit the pot with enough pace and it just fell off to the low side of the hole. So uh you know two good chances really with power fives and not been able to convert into a birdie which is not good. So now you've got three tough holes to finish with and uh try to keep the ball below the hole at 16th and uh I think I hit seven iron and I finished like 15 feet on the other side of the pin which is not good. So that the green was like a tabletop very very fast so you can imagine and I didn't see any chance of getting the ball within five feet of the puck and picked a line and thought well I'm gonna go for the motion I've got no choice I'm gonna I'm gonna have to have a five footer six footer return anyway whatever happens and made it boom boom there was a big putt. So that was a big oof thank go for that kind of scenario. So we moved to 17th and I really started to feel the fatigue of the week before and the week of winning a tournament or trying to win a tournament at Augusta the tiredness was uh my gas tank was on empty virtually I'd got very little left in the tank momentum uh confidence was the only thing I had to hang on to and not a particularly great T shot but left myself uh I think it was a wedge or nine iron second shot and uh didn't quite make the carry and I came off the green short right and the pins on short right so I was only 15 20 feet away from the hole couldn't really put it because it was a little too much grass between that and the green so I decided to chip it and I went about four foot past the hole and made that for a uh for a part.

Mike Gonzalez 41:43

Let me stop you there if I can because uh uh now what happens is uh you go to the 18th T, you're standing there with a one iron and as we mentioned earlier Bruce and I like to do a lot of deep thorough research right and so we have somebody that'll take us home from here.

Mark Calcavecchia 42:02

So I'm on the way to the butler cabin and Sandy Lyle just birdied 16 and uh so now we're even and he parved 17 and I'm in the butler cabin and uh he hits that one iron right up into the lip of the bunker. And uh you know I thought well he's nobody in the world hits it higher than him at that point they didn't for sure. And when I saw his lie it was it was just sitting perfect and it was on the upslope so I knew he he had no no problem getting over the lip but still you know he tied to the lead in the masters it's not as much where you want to be right and of course he just didn't hit the best shot of his life and his eyeballs were like that when he was looking at it flying through the air and I said oh man he had a great shot and I got up the hill rolled back down and uh I knew he was going to make the 10 or 12 footer and I just told everybody the butler cabin he's gonna make this and poured it right in the middle.

Sandy Lyle 42:56

You recognize that voice of course yeah yes and Mr Kalkovecchi hates April every time we come in April we often send him pictures I'm having a margarita in the local restaurant somewhere and he hates it so we'll we'll let you we'll let you give us your version if you'd like of that 18th hole well I think I think he explained it very well I mean um at the time the tea was just basically walk off the green at 7T this the T right there within 20 yards where now you have to walk back nearly 40 yards back to the T. So it's a lot different hole as far as the uh length of the hole now. So um I sort of said well that's got to be the one iron there's nothing else the three was going to put in the bunker one iron at the bunkers will you know there's no need to try and fade it with a driver or get round the corner the pin's on the front so it's in a kind of basin so you know you can come in with a six iron and still get the ball to stop right on the green at the lower level. So I'd think well one iron the Chosen weapon. And I hit a good one on them. It was sort of middle of the fairway with a couple of yards of drawing it. I mean, it was at that present time when you're feeling a bit, you know, loose on the legs and a little tired and jaded, whatever you want to call it. I was uh happy with the contact. And I thought, well, that's fine, that's in the in the perfect positions heading towards the bunker. It won't do anything stupid, like go in the bunker. And then to my amazement, probably through adrenaline, it 245 yards or 250 yards, I ended up in the in the trap. But the way the speed it went in the trap, I was worried about. If it only just got to the edge of the trap and then just fell in, I know it would be far enough back with a 7-on or whatever to um clear the lip and um have a chance at least making par for a play. Of course, now I've got in the bunker, I'm just thinking I've got to try and get away with the par as best I can. Birdie wasn't in my mind. That was just a bonus at the end of the day. But I was just so happy when I got there that the ball had gone far enough because of the speed, but it finished on the upslope of the bunker lip. You know, if it had rolled in the bunker only halfway up the bunker, it would have been quite a challenge to get the ball off a flat line. This was on an uphill line, so it was a matter of picking it clean with a four-iron, sorry, with a seven-iron. And seven iron, yeah. And um and I couldn't line up on the pin because I couldn't see the pin because of the bunker lip was in the way. The second bunker there, you can't really see very easy. So I couldn't see the pin. So I had to line up on some sort of cloud or tree. I think it was a probably the cloud. And um well, I looked up the contact and the way the ball was flying, I thought that is absolutely on the on the button, top draw. And very little reaction from the crowd. I knew it carried, it looked like it came down the throat of the pin, but very little reaction from the crowd. And gradually, you know, so many seconds later, the crowd got excited. I realized then, oh yeah, this ball has rolled back down the hill, and it's probably going to be within about a foot of the hole. And I'll get my caddy, I'll get my caddy to sort of lift the pin up and I'll just tap it in. We'll keep walking to the recorder's tent and the game over. So I was a little a little bit disappointed when I get up to the green a few minutes later to find it was still 12 foot. I think the expert said it was 18 point something feet. So they've studied it, but it on television it looks like it's about 8 feet, 12 feet. But if you actually time it from the the short backswing of the putt and and and time it till it gets to the hole, it probably is 18 feet. So I had a lot of time to read the putt because crensure I was playing from. Uh, he wasn't playing playing the hole particularly well, he got left off the T. Um, so he had to move the crowd. Took quite a while before I played my shot. He played his shot and he got left again in the crowd, and then you had to move the crowd, get to play a chip shot. So I had probably seven or eight minutes to uh actually read this putt. Um, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure. You might get too many lines going in your mind, but uh uh I thought it's a time to reflect to where you are, what's happening, uh enjoy the putt. I had a a memory of uh Lee Tavino saying to me many years ago, if no, if you ever want to ever have to win a haul of putt, he said, I'd rather have a downhill putt any day than have an uphill 20-footer when you've got to actually hit it. And I think it's true to his work because the green was so quick, only had to basically start the ball off online and let it do its thing, and basically what it did. It went in the hole.

Mike Gonzalez 48:00

So you became the first Brit to win a green jacket, uh with three more to follow in succession, by the way, right?

Sandy Lyle 48:07

Yes, um, and I think uh I think the uh the Sevi Balisteris is the forefront of that kind of thing. It um just made it more possible for things for and I think a lot of the Europeans, or if it's a foul or it's a Lazarelle or it's a Woozy or myself, we all think, well, Crikey Sevi can win round there, we all can as well, because he's not known as the straightest golfer in the world, but uh it's um you know it's happened, and then I think he broke the ice, and then for many, many years uh Britain and everyone else and Europe could sort of control the the Masters tournament.

Mike Gonzalez 48:49

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again with the good of the game. So long, everybody. It went smack down the fairway.