Ahead of Sandy Lyle retiring from professional golf at The Masters, Sky Sports' Ewen Murray shares his memories of playing with the two-time major champion and looks back at some of the highlights from his Hall of Fame career.
I first met Sandy in 1979. On turning professional, he joined Derrick Pillage's Golf Management organisation. Derrick had several top names on his books - Lee Trevino, Tommy Horton, Malcolm Gregson and Brian Barnes to name a few.
We were a close knit bunch and one of the perks of being in Derrick's stable was an airline contract with British Caledonian. To promote Sir Adam Thomson's airline, we would play in far flung places like Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Middle East, South America and the USA. The collection of professionals were known as the 'Golfing Lions'.
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The European Tour was still in its infancy, lasting from March to the beginning of October, so the airline alliance meant we could play throughout the winter whilst gaining experience of travelling, playing on different grasses and experiencing different cultures. There was not the prize money of today, but they were wonderful times for one so young.
It didn't take Sandy long to adapt to the professional game. Having won the Nigerian Open at Ikoyi in 1978, his big breakthrough came at the European Open at Turnberry a year later. A week of testing weather was no match for Lyle and with victory over the famed Ailsa Links, he was on his way. We celebrated that evening in the Caledonian Hotel in Ayr owned by Allied Hotels, another contract that helped us enormously in these early days.
Sandy was unassuming, polite, with a dry sense of humour, but inside was a burning desire to become the best player he could be. Derrick Pillage helped a lot and he sent us to South America a few weeks later for a five-week tour with older experienced, seasoned and successful players.
We mixed with major champions like Tommy Aaron, Orville Moody, Tony Jacklin and Tommy Bolt, while the younger ones included Bernhard Langer and Peter Townsend. We played at the Colombian outpost of Barranquilla, Maracaibo in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
No phones in these days, so you would make your own entertainment, the highlight of which was sharing stories over dinner. Despite being the baby of the team, Sandy fitted in perfectly and was like a sponge soaking up everything these great players had to say.
His natural talent was unsurpassed. One day on a range in Spain, he turned his eight iron toe up and hit fades and draws left-handed. Seve Ballesteros stopped practising and watched in amazement - not something he did often in his glittering career!
He of course inspired the bountiful era of European major success with his Open victory at Royal St George's in 1985. Those of us old enough to remember will never forget his fluff from Duncan's Dell by the left of the 18th green and him sinking to his knees, thinking he had thrown away the championship!
The Claret Jug was his and started several golden years for our players. Sir Nick Faldo and close friend Ian Woosnam were part of that, as were Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal and Germany's Bernhard Langer.
Sandy broke the barrier of foreign players competing more regularly on the PGA Tour, taking the coveted Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in 1987, before becoming the first British golfer to wear the Green Jacket a year later. Another image many treasure was the bunker shot at Augusta National's 72nd hole, followed by the victory jig on the home green.
He also graced Europe's Ryder Cup side five times and was part of the history-making team in winning on American soil for the first time at Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village in 1987. Many will say he should have been a Ryder Cup captain and they would be correct - he was deserving of that.
In the late 80s and early nineties, golf went through a period of extensive swing analysis in search of 'swing perfection'. I believe Sandy was caught up in this and made changes he quite simply didn't need to. His only tutor was his father Alex and with his passing in 1996, some lights went out in Sandy and he was never quite the same force.
Along with his two major wins, he would be victorious 28 times worldwide and inducted into Golf's Hall of Fame in 2012.
After 50 years of travelling and gracing many of the worlds fairways, The Masters is to be his final tournament. It will be emotional, surrounded by his wife Jolande and family. Images and memories of his 100-plus majors, including more than 40 in Georgia, will enter his mind as he strolls the immaculate grounds of Augusta this Easter.
In closing, I'd like to share this with you. When the Scottish Open was at Castle Stuart by the capital of the Highlands, we were staying at the delightful Skibo Castle. Having had a splendid clubhouse dinner, accompanied by a few 'nippy sweeties', Sandy thought we should play the last three holes with hickory clubs.
The professional at Skibo, David Thomson, joined us. It was just before midnight. Sandy thumped a drive and a four-iron to eight feet on 16, drove the par-four 17th and launched a drive and six iron onto the home green. It was as if he'd played with hickory all his life. Sheer, raw natural ability given to only the chosen few.
Success never changed Alexander Walter Barr Lyle and he is the same person I met all these years ago at Turnberry.
He is a credit to the game and a significant part of golf's rich history. A great golfer, gentleman, and a privilege to have him as a friend.
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