Happy Birthday Sandy Lyle

Born in Shrewsbury in 1958, Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle was the son of Scottish parents who had relocated to England three years previously when Sandy's father Alex became head professional at Hawkstone Park in Shropshire. Living just yards from the golf course, it would be the ideal place for a future two-time major winner to grow up. 

An extremely gifted youngster, Lyle made his Open Championship debut at the age of 16, later winning the prestigious Brabazon Trophy on two occasions before twice playing in the Walker Cup as a teenager. Turning professional in 1977, the 19-year-old made the decision to represent Scotland and made it straight onto the European Tour after winning the Qualifying School later that year. 

Receiving the Sir Henry Cotton Award as Rookie of the Year, Lyle won his first of 18 tournaments on the continental circuit in 1979 at the Jersey Open. He would make his Ryder Cup debut that year. It would be the first of five appearances for the prodigious talent. 

Seve on Sandy Lyle. pic.twitter.com/HNjRDNyqw8

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 9, 2016

When the 1985 Open at Royal St. Georges came around, the 27-year-old was already a ten-time winner on the European Tour, but had shot a crippling round of 94 just three weeks previously in the howling winds of the Irish Open. It would take an incredible effort of will to overcome that confidence drainer and prepare for a week in Kent that would become a defining one in his career.

Three shots back after 54-holes, Lyle shot a level-par round of 70 to edge ahead of David Graham and Bernhard Langer to lift the Claret Jug at the often brutally difficult Sandwich links. Lyle was the first British player to win the championship since Tony Jacklin triumphed in 1969, and it marked quite a turnaround from his experience on the Emerald Isle. 

Now an elite player, the Scot became a winner the following year in the United States at the Greater Greensboro Open ahead of the Masters Tournament. That next week, he would be paired alongside the legendary Jack Nicklaus in the final round, with the 46-year-old poised to embark on the most dramatic of victories. Lyle was a first-hand witness to greatness, and those lessons would become useful just a few years later. 

Winning the Players Championship in 1987, Lyle started the 1988 season in blistering form, winning in Phoenix and Greensboro (again) before the annual drive down Magnolia Lane in Georgia in hope of becoming the first British winner of the Green Jacket. It would become the most iconic victory of his career. 

Having led after 36 and 54 holes, the 30-year-old double-bogeyed the 12th after hitting his tee shot into Rae's Creek. Failing to make birdie on either the 13th or 15th holes, the leader now found himself as the chaser, sitting one shot off the lead as he stood on the 16th tee. With 12-feet for birdie after the tee shot, Lyle channelled his inner Nicklaus to hole the putt to tie Mark Calcavecchia at the summit of the leaderboard. 

Electing to hit a one-iron from the 18th tee, Lyle's immense power (and likely adrenaline) saw the ball run through the fairway and into a steep-faced bunker. Requiring a par to force a playoff or a birdie to win outright, the Scot played one of the most famous shots ever played at Augusta National, with his seven-iron towering imperiously from the sand and onto the green, with the ball rolling down the slope on the centre of the green to within six-feet of the hole. Incredible. 

Facing a tricky downhiller, Lyle followed that approach shot with a putt that glided towards the cup before triumphantly disappearing below to the surface to his relief and unmatched joy. Sandy Lyle was the Masters champion. 

In the years that followed, Sandy's career never reached those heights again, with technical problems with his game becoming increasingly problematic following his father's death. Such was the decline that his final victory on the European Tour came in 1992, at the age of just 34. Golf became a taxing experience. 

But with an undying love of the game and that remarkable natural ability still present, Lyle never gave up and continues to play in the Masters and Open as a former champion - making the cut in both in 2014 - in addition to competing regularly on the Champions Tour in the United States, with flashes of that old brilliance appearing.

Happy birthday to @SandyLyle1 one of the nicest people in golf. #58today

— John Huggan (@johnhuggan) February 9, 2016

What hasn't diminished, however, was Sandy's genuineness and decency as a human being. There have been few - in any sport - who have reached the top but remained as humble and kind as the man who now splits his time between Stirlingshire and Florida. 

As he turns 58, with his playing career entering its winter, it's a fitting time to celebrate that God-given talent. Sandy Lyle is one of golf's greatest champions in so many aspects.