65 days remain until the 142nd Open Championship gets underway at Muirfield. In a Championship that is as much about history and tradition, as it is the present, the oldest major in the game will be blessed with the presence of one of its greatest champions.
Since joining ABC in 2004, Nick Faldo has forged a surprising broadcasting career in the United States, which has seen him become lead golf analyst for CBS and Golf Channel. Surprising because of his reputation as a loner when he was a competitive player. Driven by ambition, determination and a thirst for perfection, Faldo led a solitary life on Tour that generated significant hostility from his peers and, in particular, the media.
The press never took to Faldo, and that feeling was certainly reciprocated by the Englishman who would win a total of six major championships in his illustrious career.
After signing with CBS in 2007, Faldo has essentially retired from competitive golf. (You can count on one hand the number of tournaments he has played since). But the 55-year-old made a somewhat surprising announcement last week, when he confirmed that he will be competing at the 142nd Open Championship at Muirfield.
Muirfield, the site of Faldo's first major victory in 1987, and his third Open win in 1992. In that first victory, he famously produced a final round consisting of 18 consecutive pars, as he held off the challenge of Paul Azinger and Rodger Davis. Five years later, he won his fifth major, as he managed to survive a Sunday charge from a resurgent John Cook.
The stunning Championship links, on Scotland's East Lothian coast, is a venue that clearly has significant emotional attachment for Faldo, and that is certainly the sole-reason for this brief return to tournament golf.
Faldo explained at The Players: "I was in the gym on Monday, and it suddenly just hit me. I thought, 'Come on, this is one more walk,' and I'll probably never get a chance to walk at Muirfield. "If I can just get over the hurdle and say to myself, 'What will be, will be.' I can't go for score. I can't be any fitter. If I can just hit a few solid long irons, who knows what could happen? I could just go play and enjoy the shot."
For a 55-year-old, essentially retired golfer, this is a walk down memory lane that is based purely on nostalgia. It has been three years since Faldo competed. (He missed the cut at the 2010 Open at St Andrews). Despite the obvious anxiety he will feel returning at a testing layout like Muirfield, this is a journey that Faldo fully intends to savour and enjoy with his children.
For any professional golfer, life on Tour means a lot of time on the road traveling all over the world. One of the penalties for the opportunity to play the game at the highest level is a significant loss of time with your family. That's an issue made even more difficult when life is complicated by divorce. (Which Faldo experienced). For all the valuable time he lost with his children, this journey back in time to Muirfield is a chance to set at least part of that right.
Matthew, Faldo's 23-year-old son, will caddy for him at Muirfield, and his other children will also be present. He wants them to have a little taste, an experience of what he enjoyed when they were too young to appreciate it.
Nick Faldo's 35th Open appearance may very well turn out to be his final one. He will be driven on by the memories of those great victories of the past, as will the galleries who will follow him around the classic links in Gullane. But given Faldo's determination, he will be doing his utmost to ensure that he performs as well as he possibly can in July.
Faldo added at Sawgrass: "I've got just over two months to go to get myself to pretend that I'm a golfer".
Two months indeed, as he returns to the site of two of his greatest triumphs. Nick Faldo is certainly not amongst the most popular players in the history of the game. Far from it. But he has earned this opportunity of sentimentality. Faldo's entry only adds to the nostalgic feel of this year's Championship, where the legendary Tom Watson will likely play his final Open in Scotland, where he won four of his five Claret Jugs.
Watson is loved and adored by the Scottish galleries. Faldo, perhaps, is only respected. But they will both provide an emotional dimension to the 142nd Open Championship. And, in the Englishman's case, it will be a touching experience for father and son.
In this case, nostalgia is most welcome.