Sir Nick Faldo marks 60th birthday with practice round at The Open
By Keith Jackson at Royal Birkdale
Last Updated: 18/07/17 3:09pm
Sir Nick Faldo celebrated his 60th birthday with a practice round at Royal Birkdale ahead of The 146th Open.
The three-time champion was afforded the honour by the R&A despite not competing in this year's tournament, staying true to his word that the 2015 Open at St Andrews would be his last as a player.
Faldo played the front nine alongside defending champion Henrik Stenson before being joined by leading English hope Justin Rose after the turn, and he evoked memories of his heydey by having legendary caddie Fanny Sunesson on his bag as well as his son, Matthew.
The galleries around the 18th swelled as Faldo made his way up the final fairway on the course on which he made the first of his 37 Open appearances in 1976, and he was greeted by a rendition of "happy birthday" on his arrival at the green.
Faldo put up a series of videos during his round with the hashtag #celebrating60 and his birthday celebrations will include an appearance at the Senior Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl next week.
"I had a quiet nine with the defending championand another quiet nine with a possible champion," said Faldo, who was upbeat about Rose's chances of victory this week. "Rosey looks good. You have to be smart off the tee and if it stays
dry it's 'linksy' and the ball will run a mile so you have to be careful."
Still regarded by many as Great Britain's finest golfer, Faldo lifted the Claret Jug for the first time in 1987 at Muirfield, four years after he endured a disappointing final round at Birkdale when in contention which prompted him to employ David Leadbetter to overhaul his swing.
Faldo cruised to victory at St Andrews in 1990 and survived a final-day wobble to complete his hat-trick back at Muirfield two years later, and he won the last of his six major titles with his famous come-from-behind win over the luckless Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters.
His Open career yielded 13 top-10 finishes, the last being a tie for third at Royal St George's in 2003, and he has described the last of his three victories as his most "draining" as he went from four ahead to two behind before holding off John Cook.
