Faldo Fires Coach Leadbetter
After nearly 15 years of working together, teacher David Leadbetter and six-time major championship winner Nick Faldo have parted ways.
Leadbetter received word of Faldo's decision when he returned home to Orlando on Saturday after a journey to the Far East. Faldo has decided to work with Chip Koehlke of the Faldo Golf Institute at the Marriott Grande Vista resort in Orlando.
"It's disappointing when you work so hard with a player for so many years," Leadbetter, speaking from his home at the Lake Nona Golf Club, said of the letter that Faldo sent to his golf academy there. "We had a good relationship as far as these things go in this field. Sometimes you need a fresh outlook, I suppose. Still, it was a bit of a shock."
Faldo has had a very difficult year on the course, falling to 65th on the World Rankings and 149th on the PGA Tour money list with $150,703. He returned to the PGA European Tour recently, saying that because the fields there are not so deep in talent that perhaps he could regain some confidence. The winner of three Masters and three Open Championships -- all since revamping his swing under Leadbetter's direction -- shot 65 the final round of the Trophée Lancôme last Sunday to finish in sixth place, three shots behind winner Miguel Angel Jimenez. He last won at the Nissan Open on the PGA Tour in early March, 1997.
Faldo first sought out Leadbetter at the end of 1984, although they did not start working together until the spring of 1985. Faldo told Leadbetter to do whatever he needed to turn him into a consistent ball-striker.
"I took to David right away," Faldo said of their beginnings. "Others had told me what I thought I was doing wrong, but nobody had said this in particular is how I could cure my faults. I thought about it and decided to work with David when I saw him at Muirfield Village (the golf club in Dublin, Ohio that hosts the Memorial Tournament each May). I couldn't hit a green with a 9-iron then."
Faldo changed his swing from stem to stern under Leadbetter's guidance, and in 1987 won the Open at Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland. He made 18 consecutive pars the last round; he had become a consummate ball-striker who would go on to become a favourite every time a major championship was played. Faldo's last major victory was the 1996 Masters, where he shot 67 the last round to overtake third-round leader Greg Norman. Norman had taken a six-shot lead into the last round but shot 78.
Things began to deteriorate not long after for Faldo. H slipped to 97th on the PGA Tour's money list in 1997, and continued his mediocre play this year. Hence his recent return to the European Tour.
In his letter to Leadbetter, Faldo said that in view of his poor play of late he felt he should strike out with somebody new, and that the opportunity had arisen for him to work with Koehlke. Leadbetter also thinks the decision may have been business-related.
"He was asked to promote the Nick Faldo Institute as much as he could in the last year," Leadbetter said. "That's why you didn't often hear my name associated with his when he spoke."
While Leadbetter was still somewhat surprised to learn Faldo wanted to break up their successful partnership, he did manage to put a light-hearted spin on the situation.
"At least our relationship lasted longer than either of Nick's two marriages," Leadbetter joked.
At the same time Leadbetter -- a man Faldo famously called "Lord Lead" when speaking of him to the media, or, simply, "Lead," -- realized that the time was perhaps coming for a split. Leadbetter said that he hadn't spent as much time with Faldo in the last year as in previous years.
For one thing, Leadbetter's father died in early summer and so he was spending a lot of time going back and forth between the U.S. and England, where his parents lived. Meanwhile, Faldo was also dividing his time between England and the U.S.; his children from his marriage to his second wife Gill live in England.
It was also the case, Leadbetter felt, that Faldo had not been working this last year with the same intensity as he had previously. Still, Leadbetter added, "He has been good for me and I was good for him. He's known as one of the greats. There was a time when every player at a major would look over his shoulder and wonder what Nick was doing.
"I wish him well for the future," Leadbetter, who works with Norman, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Se Ri Pak, added. "If he gets his focus back and starts putting well I still think he can win. He's a very gifted individual."