Every round in The Masters is something of a trip down memory lane for Sandy Lyle these days, but the one he had today was extra special.
It is 20 years to the day that he won at Augusta after one of the most dramatic shots in major history.
Level with Mark Calcavecchia with one to play, Lyle drove into the fairway bunker but then hit a seven-iron from the sand that landed on the sl
ope beyond the flag and trickled back down to 10 feet.
After sinking the putt to become the first of four successive British winners – Nick Faldo the following two years and then Ian Woosnam in 1991 – Lyle went into a merry jig of joy.
"You dream about it maybe as a boy growing up," he said.
"You need a four or a three to win the Masters and there's my situation right there in front of me.
"That's a memory that will always stick with me and also with people who watched at that time, even back in Britain at sort of one o'clock in the morning.
"The drama of having a two-shot lead after nine holes, taking a double bogey at the 12th hole, then not to birdie the par-five holes. It looked a bit grim for a while. And not many people have done it, making birdie out of the bunker.
"There have been only a few who have made birdie on the last hole to win. It used to be Arnold Palmer and that was it, but then I did it and there has since been Mark O'Meara and Mickelson."
So does it all feel two decades ago?
"No, it doesn't at all," replied Lyle.
"It's just gone very, very quick. The mid-80s for me were crazy with the wins (he also captured The Open in 1985) and travelling around and doing the tours.
"To win the Masters, it brings a hair on the back of your neck when you think about it."
Lyle tees off at his 27th Masters today.
The full article contains 347 words and appears in EP Leeds First & County newspaper.
