The Masters: Sir Nick Faldo becomes just the second man to retain the title with 1990 victory

Sir Nick Faldo became only the second player to successfully defend The Masters title when he triumphed at Augusta National 30 years ago.

Back in April 1990, the Englishman, then aged 32 and 19 years before he was knighted, edged out American Raymond Floyd in a play-off to follow in the footsteps of Jack Nicklaus, who won consecutive Masters in 1965 and 1966.

Faldo, who won The Open in 1987, claimed his second major title at The Masters in 1989 - also via a play-off - when he birdied the second extra hole, although that sudden-death success is remembered more for Scott Hoch's 'choke' when he missed a two-foot par putt for victory at the first extra hole.

So Faldo returned to Augusta National in 1990 with the Green Jacket in his possession and he was determined to retain it.

Faldo, ranked second in the world behind Greg Norman at the time, made a steady start to his title defence with rounds of 71 and 72 which put him one under at the halfway stage and tied for 10th, five shots behind the pace-setting Floyd.

Floyd, who had captained the United States Ryder Cup side at The Belfry in 1999, was bidding to become the oldest Masters champion at the age of 47 - Nicklaus had set the record in 1986 and was also in contention in 1990 at the age of 50.

'Moving Day' proved to be just that for Faldo as he fired a six-under 66 in the third round to storm up the leaderboard into third place on seven under, with Floyd three ahead after a 68, two ahead of fellow American John Huston with the pair in the final group on the Sunday.

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Faldo was paired with 18-time major champion Nicklaus, who was five behind Floyd on five under, for the final round, but it looked like the Englishman's crown was slipping when he double-bogeyed the opening hole after driving into a bunker and then three-putting.

In fact, Floyd, who won The Masters in 1976, appeared to have one arm in the Green Jacket when he led by four shots after four holes.

Faldo recovered with birdies at the second, seventh and ninth but a bogey at the 10th saw Floyd once again lead by four when he birdied the 12th to get to 11 under, with Huston and Nicklaus both now well off the pace.

But Faldo was not giving in and he applied pressure on Floyd by birdieing the two par-fives - 13 and 15 - before holing a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th.

Floyd, meanwhile, just failed to birdie the 15th when his chip was a whisker away from dropping - there were suggestions Huston's marker had taken it off course - and he then three-putted to bogey the 17th meaning the pair shared the lead on 10 under.

They both held their nerve to par the 18th, Faldo finishing with a 69 and Floyd 72, sending the tournament (and Faldo) into a play-off once again.

The pair parred the first extra hole, the 10th - Faldo making a four-putter for his four after an excellent third shot from a greenside bunker - so they headed to the par-four 11th.

Faldo hit the longer drive here and watched on as Floyd ditched his approach shot into the water, leaving the Englishman to chip an eight-iron down the hill to 18 feet, from where he safely made par to retain the title and claim the third of his six major victories.

"My motivation was simple. I'm not putting my jacket on Ray Floyd, I'm not doing that," said Faldo later.

Meanwhile, Floyd said at the time: "This is the most devastating thing that's ever happened to me in my career. I've had a lot of losses, but nothing like this."

Watch The Masters this week live on Sky Sports, with all four rounds exclusively live on Sky Sports' Masters channel. Live coverage beings with Featured Groups from 12.30pm on Thursday.

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