Sandy Lyle

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Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE (born February 9, 1958) is a Scottish golfer. Lyle was born in Shrewsbury, England, but represented Scotland during his professional career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s.

Lyle was introduced to golf by his father, Alex, who had taken the family from Scotland to England in 1955 when he became resident professional at Hawkstone Park golf course. Their family home was just 40 yards from the pro-shop and 18th green. He began playing with miniature clubs at the age of 3. At schoolboy, junior and amateur level Lyle represented England. As an amateur Lyle won the English Amateur Stroke Play championship in 1975 and 1977. He was a member of the Walker Cup team.

In 1977 he turned professional and made the decision to represent Scotland. Lyle showed his quality by winning The Open Championship at Sandwich in 1985. The first British winner since Tony Jacklin in 1969, and continued the rise of European golfers in the world scene. Lyle was a member of the European Ryder Cup team that was victorious at the Belfry in the autumn of 1985.

For many golf fans he is best known for the bunker shot at the 18th hole in the final round of the Masters in 1988 when he became the first Briton to wear the green jacket. He also won the World Match Play Championship in 1988 after being a losing finalist on several occasions.

Lyle topped the European Tour's order of merit in 1979, 1980 and 1985. He finished in the top ten nine times between 1979 and 1992. He was also a member of the PGA Tour for several years and finished seventh on the money list in 1988. In 1989 Lyle's form fell away, and apart from a good year in Europe in 1992, he has not been a regular contender since then. His prime thus ended in his early thirties, which is unusually young for a professional golfer.

As a player, Lyle is known for his cool temperament and placid exterior. His achievements inspired fellow rivals such as Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam to raise their games, and go on to win the majors.

[edit] Amateur wins (4)

  • 1975 English Amateur Open Stroke-Play Championship (Brabazon Trophy), English Boys Amateur Stroke-Play Championship (Carris Trophy)
  • 1977 English Amateur Open Stroke-Play Championship, British Youths Open Amateur Championship

[edit] European Tour wins (17)

[edit] PGA Tour wins (6)

Major championships are shown in bold.

[edit] Other wins (5)

  • 1978 Nigerian Open
  • 1979 Scottish Professional Championship (not a European Tour event)
  • 1984 Kapalua International (Hawaii - not a PGA Tour event), Casio World Open (Japan)
  • 1989 Suntory World Match Play Championship (United Kingdom - not then a European Tour event)

[edit] Results in major championships

Tournament 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT DNP DNP CUT CUT T19
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament 48 T28 DNP CUT DNP T25 T11 T17 1 CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP T45 T36 T25 CUT
The Open Championship T12 T14 T8 CUT T14 1 T30 T17 T7 T46
PGA Championship DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament CUT CUT T37 T21 T38 CUT CUT T34 CUT T48
U.S. Open CUT T16 T51 T52 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T16 DQ T12 CUT 74 T79 T56 CUT T19 CUT
PGA Championship DNP T16 CUT T56 T73 T39 DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Masters Tournament CUT CUT CUT CUT T37 CUT CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT T69 T76 CUT 73 T32 CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] Off the course

Lyle published his first book, "To the Fairway Born" in 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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