By Alex Myers
The other day we shared an old clip of Lee Trevino quickly playing his tee shot on the 12th hole during the final round of the 1975 Masters. It was a refreshing sight considering the pace of play we’re used to seeing from (most of) today’s tour pros. But if you think slow play is just a thing of this millennium, think again.
A different old clip is making the rounds on Golf Twitter on Friday involving Nick Faldo. Let’s just say he took a little more time than Trevino.
Watch as Faldo takes nearly two minutes to play a shot from the middle of the first fairway during the final round of what appears to be the 1990 Australian Masters.
You wouldn’t be happy stuck behind this guy all day!! You would’ve leading the Masters though ???️♂️@NickFaldo006 @mikeclaytongolf @GeoffShac pic.twitter.com/zuOnwyXLvH
— Rob Williamson (@Yeti2319) August 20, 2020
Wow. You’ll notice Faldo, who wound up finishing runner-up to Greg Norman that day, check the wind, change clubs, converse with his caddie, etc. In fact, he took so long that producers switched away to show shots from two other competitors while Faldo contemplated.
Even Bryson DeChambeau would think this is a bit much. Well, maybe not Bryson. But most players.
Sir Nick himself seemed to be appalled by the situation as well. After being tagged in the original tweet, the six-time major champ had this funny response:
FFS hit it man its only the 1st! ? https://t.co/gDcLcd76jz
— Sir Nick Faldo (@NickFaldo006) August 21, 2020
Seriously, how long did that round take?! And then he poked fun at himself even more by listing several silly excuses:
In my defence @Fannycaddie was brand-new on the bag and we were only conversing in Swedish ?? and all distances she gave were in metric and had to be converted into Imperial yards, and in the Southern hemisphere the grass blows the other way and it was a bad camera angle! ? https://t.co/gDcLcd76jz
— Sir Nick Faldo (@NickFaldo006) August 21, 2020
So the next time Faldo criticises a current player for taking too long, keep this clip in mind. But in the meantime, try to block this clip out of your mind. It’s rough.
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