Nick Faldo

Nick Faldo is Europe's greatest golfer ever, with over 42 titles to his credit. Nick always demonstrated a natural aptitude for sports, but watching Jack Nicklaus competing in the 1971 US Masters was a defining moment that inspired him to take up golf.

With a set of clubs borrowed from his next-door neighbours, Nick started to golf at his local club. Within four years he was the best amateur player in Europe, winning the English Amateur Championship and the British Youth Championship in 1975. The following year, Nick took up golf professionally.

In 1977, at just 20 years of age, Nick became the youngest ever Ryder Cup team member and proceeded to win all of his matches. In the years since, he has represented Europe a record eleven times and to this day holds the title for the highest number of points in the competition.

Throughout the 80s, Nick rose to prominence as one of Europe's top golfers. Under the tutelage of David Leadbetter, he radically altered his swing; a painstaking two-year process that had a revitalizing effect on his competitive game. With critics doubting his ability to regain his form, Nick emerged as a technically better player. He went on to win six Majors, including three British Open Championships and three US Masters.

In 1992 Nick became the first European player to win over 1 million pounds in prize money during a single season. He held the record for the most successive weeks- a staggering 81 weeks- at the top of the Sony World Ranking. The decade ended on a high when he partnered with David Carter to win England's first victory in the World Cup of Golf in Auckland in 1998.

Today, as winner of 6 Major Championships, Nick Faldo is the world's most successful non-American golfer of the modern era, and deservedly takes his place amongst the game's elite as a golfing icon. Nick is very much a competitive golfer but as a new generation of golfing talent emerges—many of whom Nick himself has nurtured—he is able to devote more time to his off-course interests.

Nick is actively involved in several charities including the English Blind Golf Association and the National Children's Homes. He also heads Faldo Design, a golf course architecture design company that has worked on outstanding projects all over the world.