BBC SPORT | Special Events | 2001 | US Open

By BBC Sport Online's Sanjeev Shetty

Arguably, Nick Faldo is Britain's greatest ever golfer.

Winner of six Major titles and the leading European scorer in the Ryder Cup, Faldo has just about done it all.

But despite all the glory and success, two titles have eluded him.

One is the PGA, the final Major of the season and the other is the US Open.

With both titles, Faldo has come close - in 1992, the Englishman came second at the PGA and in 1988 he lost a play-off to Curtis Strange for the US Open title.

At the recent Volvo PGA Championship, Faldo finished third, but it was the quality of his play that most impressed.

His driving and iron play was back to its very best and his putting, a weakness since his glory days, was also looking smooth.

Always renowned for his straight hitting and orthodox style, Faldo's natural game is ideally suited to the traditionally treacherous surroundings of the US Open.

Since the first time he played in the tournament in 1984, Faldo has missed the cut just three times and has managed four top-10 finishes.

While three of those came during the glory days, the most recent was at last year's tournament, where he finished seventh on a course that only Tiger Woods could master.

Nick Faldo and Fanny Sunneson
Has the recent alliance with Fanny Sunneson paid dividends?
Although Woods is the clear favourite to walk away with this year's title, the contenders after him are not obvious.

Neither Phil Mickelson or David Duval have experience of winning a Major, while Ernie Els has yet to sparkle this year.

From a European point of view - Lee Westwood has yet to get his game going this season, Darren Clarke is still struggling for top form and Jose-Maria Olazabal is too erratic.

In terms of experience, none of them can compete with Faldo.

And if Woods has a couple of bad days at the office - and he is due some bad luck soon - then it may well be a senior professional with the best chance of capitalising.

Apart from Faldo, the likes of Hal Sutton, Paul Azinger and even Bernhard Langer have the experience and composure to defy the odds.

But one wonders whether either of them have the desire to turn things round the way Faldo obviously has.

Just two years ago, he was the forgotten man of golf - left out of the Ryder Cup team, missing cuts in the Majors and seemingly a shadow of the player that had dominated the game during most of the 90s.

It is now up to him to prove that his performance at Wentworth recently was not an aberration and that he has solved the riddle that was his game.

With former caddy Fanny Sunneson back at his side, maybe some of the missing ingredients are already there.

And by winning a Major this year, he can underline his own place in the pantheon of greatness and stop everyone from talking about someone called Tiger.


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