When Sandy Lyle hit his golf ball on Augusta National’s 18th hole, Peter Alliss said, “It could go! It could spin!” British golf fans watching felt concerned and worried that the ball might end up in a dangerous bunker to the left.
The Scot had to play an incredible golf shot from a sand trap and then sink a tricky downhill putt for the winning birdie and beat American favourites Mark Calcavecchia and Ben Crenshaw.
Whenever I have gone to the Masters, I remember 1988 when a great shot from a seven-iron club made the ball skip over the hole and gently go down a hill into it. This year will be very special since this is the 65-year-old’s last time at the greatest golfing spot of his life.
Recently, a golfer from Shrewsbury, Scotland told everyone he was quitting the Champions Tour during the 87th Masters tournament. People think he is one of the best golfers ever – his natural ability led him to win 30 professional tournaments, including 1985 Open Championship at Royal St George’s!
In 1995, Tony Jacklin became the first British person in 16 years to win a major game. That moment was nail-biting since his very first chip to the 72nd green bounced back. Three years later, he made history again by winning an incredibly courageous event at Augusta.
Lyle had a two stroke lead after three rounds, and he was still ahead by the same on the Saturday, even though he scored par. On the last round on Sunday, Lyle increased his advantage over others to three strokes after playing 10 holes, but then things took a turn when he scored a bogey at 11th hole and double at 12th hole. Many Masters titles have been lost because of this particular stretch of holes – Rory McIlroy in 2011 and Jordan Spieth in 2016 are just some few examples. Unfortunately, these back-to-back bad shots made Lyle feel very disappointed.
When five-under par Lyle started playing, Craig Stadler was ahead with the same score. Next to him were Calcavecchia and Crenshaw who had the support of their home crowd. Unfortunately, Lyle didn’t make a birdie at either 13th or 14th hole. He almost got an eagle putt on 15th hole but sadly he only settled for a birdie which couldn’t help his cause.
At first, the golfer had a bad score on a hole that he expected to do better. But then, he shot an awesome birdie at the 16th hole and was tied with someone else for the lead heading into the last one. When he got to the last hole though, his ball ended up in Sandy’s Bunker which is 8 iron shots away from the hole. He felt he needed one more club (a stronger hit) than usual to get out of it and have a chance of winning.
Crenshaw was really surprised when he said, “One of the craziest shots I’ve ever seen!”
He described it as a “seven-iron swing that was hit with incredible power”.
Runner-up Calcavecchia later commented on the shot saying, “Every time I see the hole, I’m still amazed by what happened”.
Dave Musgrove, the caddie, thought the winning putt might lean to the left, but both of them took into account the grain which could make it go right. The champion was super happy when his ball landed in the middle of the cup! After that, Lyle said he felt exhausted as if all his energy had been used up at the end of that last hole.
“Dancing was so amazing that I could have stayed there on the grass forever and never been unhappy.
Thanks to Lyle, ‘Sir’ Nick Faldo (a golfer who won the Masters three times), Ian Woosnam, and Danny Willett were all able to become British winners of the Masters as well.
Lyle is now coming to the end of his impressive career in golf – he has 18 wins on the European Tour throughout his time playing all around the world.”
Seve Lyle had been in five Ryder Cup competitions and part of two European-winning teams. Despite fans’ wishes, he was never chosen as the captain of the European team. But, Seve still made a big impact on golf in Europe and will now be leaving from Augusta this week as one of the greatest golfers around. Check out Blue Lights on SportsNewsCenter iPlayer to watch a new riveting police drama set in Belfast where rookie cops must do their best to survive!
Can you believe that some movies have gotten it wrong when they predicted the future? We still don’t have hoverboards and flying cars like what we see in some of the films!
