Vartan Kupelian
Vartan Kupelian is an award-winning golf writer for The Detroit News, and a columnist for http://GolfBrief.com. Kupelian is the author of "Stalking the Tiger: A Writer's Diary."
Lyle rates with the best of them
http://www.golfbrief.com/articles/688/1/Lyle-rates-with-the-best-of-them/Page1.html
By Vartan Kupelian
Published on 03/7/2008
http://www.golfbrief.com/articles/688/1/Lyle-rates-with-the-best-of-them/Page1.html
Lyle rates with the best of them
The name is Alexander Walter Barr Lyle. He's better known as Sandy and he's best known for that majestic bunker shot he once hit on the 72nd hole at Augusta National Golf Club.
That was in 1988 and it earned a Green Jacket for Lyle.
There is symmetry to Lyle's career. It was in 1978, 10 years earlier, that he won his first professional golf tournament at the Nigerian Open in spectacular style. Lyle, at age 20, opened the tournament with rounds of 61 and 63. Here was as young golfer worth watching.
How time flies.
Today, 20 years after his Masters triumph and 30 years after Nigeria, Lyle is playing in his first Champions Tour event at the Toshiba Classic.
Most people will remember Lyle for the bunker shot at Augusta National — a 7-iron from 160 yards that finished 18 feet from the cup. He made the putt for birdie and the Masters trophy.
Let's amend that. Most people who will remember anything about Lyle will remember that shot. If there is a truth about Lyle's career, as good as it was with two major championships, is that he hasn't always been given his due.
Lyle, son of a golf professional, won the 1975 English Amateur Stroke-Play Championship at the age of 17. He played on the Walker Cup team and in 1978 was the European Tour's Rookie of the Year.
When the Official World Golf Rankings debuted in 1986, he spent 167 weeks, through the 1989 season, in the top 10. Lyle won six times on the PGA Tour, the first coming at the 1985 British Open and the last at that memorable Masters.
Lyle was in that special class of European golfer who transformed the Ryder Cup from an exhibition to a competition. He is a contemporary of Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam.
Look at those names and answer the riddle: What do they all have in common?
It is the same thing that sets Lyle apart from the others and addresses the issue of Lyle not getting the respect he deserves, even in European circles.
Ballesteros, Langer and Woosnam all have been captain of the European Ryder Cup team. Faldo gets his turn this year.
Lyle never has been selected for a role that has become a recognition and reward for career achievements. Lyle won as many major titles as Langer and twice as many Woosnam. It is an oversight not likely to be corrected because in Europe, as in the United States, the trend is to younger captains, those who are still in tune with what's happening on the regular tours.
It's been a long time since Lyle has been competitive. It is a subject he addressed with reporters earlier this week at the Toshiba Classic. But last year, after a long lay-off, he returned to Augusta National as a past champion and tied for 43rd. It's not something anybody could have predicted but, then, "it's a stupid game," Lyle said.
Lyle expects to have success on the Champions Tour, where he anticipates playing 20 events. John Cook, also a member of the Champions Tour's rookie class of '08, knows it's not about expectations. It's about preparation and commitment
"That's what it's all about," Cook said.
Jay Haas is the two-time Champions Tour Player of the Year. He offers more insights on why some have such tremendous careers on the Champions Tour and others fade away.
"They stayed in golf and some of them, their bodies just aged better," Haas said. "Maybe their bodies just lasted a little bit longer.
"And then I think you cannot ever discount the fact of being really hungry and saying, 'You know what, I didn't get it when I was on the PGA Tour but now I'm going for it. I'm changing this, that or the other thing, and I'm going to do differently.'"
Sandy Lyle doesn't need to do it differently. He just needs somebody to notice, something that hasn't happened much since that 7-iron at Augusta National 20 years ago.
That was in 1988 and it earned a Green Jacket for Lyle.
There is symmetry to Lyle's career. It was in 1978, 10 years earlier, that he won his first professional golf tournament at the Nigerian Open in spectacular style. Lyle, at age 20, opened the tournament with rounds of 61 and 63. Here was as young golfer worth watching.
How time flies.
Today, 20 years after his Masters triumph and 30 years after Nigeria, Lyle is playing in his first Champions Tour event at the Toshiba Classic.
Most people will remember Lyle for the bunker shot at Augusta National — a 7-iron from 160 yards that finished 18 feet from the cup. He made the putt for birdie and the Masters trophy.
Let's amend that. Most people who will remember anything about Lyle will remember that shot. If there is a truth about Lyle's career, as good as it was with two major championships, is that he hasn't always been given his due.
Lyle, son of a golf professional, won the 1975 English Amateur Stroke-Play Championship at the age of 17. He played on the Walker Cup team and in 1978 was the European Tour's Rookie of the Year.
When the Official World Golf Rankings debuted in 1986, he spent 167 weeks, through the 1989 season, in the top 10. Lyle won six times on the PGA Tour, the first coming at the 1985 British Open and the last at that memorable Masters.
Lyle was in that special class of European golfer who transformed the Ryder Cup from an exhibition to a competition. He is a contemporary of Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam.
Look at those names and answer the riddle: What do they all have in common?
It is the same thing that sets Lyle apart from the others and addresses the issue of Lyle not getting the respect he deserves, even in European circles.
Ballesteros, Langer and Woosnam all have been captain of the European Ryder Cup team. Faldo gets his turn this year.
Lyle never has been selected for a role that has become a recognition and reward for career achievements. Lyle won as many major titles as Langer and twice as many Woosnam. It is an oversight not likely to be corrected because in Europe, as in the United States, the trend is to younger captains, those who are still in tune with what's happening on the regular tours.
It's been a long time since Lyle has been competitive. It is a subject he addressed with reporters earlier this week at the Toshiba Classic. But last year, after a long lay-off, he returned to Augusta National as a past champion and tied for 43rd. It's not something anybody could have predicted but, then, "it's a stupid game," Lyle said.
Lyle expects to have success on the Champions Tour, where he anticipates playing 20 events. John Cook, also a member of the Champions Tour's rookie class of '08, knows it's not about expectations. It's about preparation and commitment
"That's what it's all about," Cook said.
Jay Haas is the two-time Champions Tour Player of the Year. He offers more insights on why some have such tremendous careers on the Champions Tour and others fade away.
"They stayed in golf and some of them, their bodies just aged better," Haas said. "Maybe their bodies just lasted a little bit longer.
"And then I think you cannot ever discount the fact of being really hungry and saying, 'You know what, I didn't get it when I was on the PGA Tour but now I'm going for it. I'm changing this, that or the other thing, and I'm going to do differently.'"
Sandy Lyle doesn't need to do it differently. He just needs somebody to notice, something that hasn't happened much since that 7-iron at Augusta National 20 years ago.