The Masters starts this week.
Always one of the main highlights of the golf calendar, http://www.golfoffers.uk looks back on the British winners at Augusta National.
Sandy Lyle (1988) – Hawkstone Park
In 1988, Sandy Lyle made sporting history by becoming the first British golfer to win the US Masters three years after securing the Open Championship at Royal St George’s Golf Club.
Sandy represented Europe in 5 Ryder Cup teams between 1979 and 1987 before being selected as an Assistant Captain by Ian Woosnam in 2006. In 2012 Sandy will be inducted into the ‘World Golf Hall of Fame’.
Sandy maintains close links with his local club at Hawkstone Park and continues to support the Trophy Competition named in his honour.
Sir Nick Faldo (1989, 1990, 1996) Welwyn Garden City
That summer of ‘75 signalled the end of Faldo’s amateur apprenticeship. A spell at college in Texas didn’t suit him and he made the decision to turn professional in 1976. Now a strapping 6’ 3’’ 19-year-old, he made a modest debut, finishing joint 38th in the French Open at Le Touquet, the gallery peppered with Welwyn Garden City (Faldo’s home course) members. It was a quiet start for a man who would climb to the highest peaks of achievement, eventually sitting for 98 weeks at the top of golf’s world rankings.
Faldo was central to some of Europe’s greatest Ryder Cup achievements, making 11 appearances over 20 years, securing a record 25 points. He won 41 tournaments, including his six majors, the Open Championship in 1987, ’90 and ’92 and the Masters in 1989, ’90 and ’96. The Commemoration Jug, a competition for club champions, is hosted at Welwyn in celebration of his first major title, the 1987 Open Championship at Muirfield.
Ian Woosnam (1991) – Llanymynech
Woosnam started playing at the unique Llanymynech Golf Club, which straddles the Wales-England border.
He is short for a male golfer at 1.64 m (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in), but he is a powerful hitter. He played as an amateur in regional competitions in the English county of Shropshire alongside Sandy Lyle.
In 1991, he reached the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, eventually spending a total of 50 weeks as World Number 1 (7 April 1991 – 21 March 1992). In the same year, he emulated his British rivals, Sandy Lyle and Nick Faldo, by winning the Masters Tournament; the first person representing Wales to ever win a major championship.
Danny Willett (2016) – Rotherham
Danny Willett, who won the coveted Major in 2016 joined Rotherham as a teenager in 2005 to learn from the good number of aspiring young players with scratch handicaps or better.
Among his peer group here were Matt Evans, Sam Haywood, Neil Walker and James Mason all of whom subsequently turned professional.
Danny soon fitted in and within two years he had his name on the club’s honours board as Club Champion, before going on to win the Yorkshire Amateur Championship, and the English Amateur Championship, which culminated in his selection for the GB&I Walker Cup squad. By the following season, he was the world’s number one amateur.
His bag from the Walker Cup stands proudly in our historic clubhouse, and the Masters champion remains a regular visitor when he is not on Tour.
We were delighted that he chose our club as the host for his homecoming press conference in 2016 when he happily posed wearing his Green Jacket.
Rory McIlroy (2025 and 2026) – Holywood. Image credit Reuters and Getty Images
Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He is currently ranked world number two and is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking having spent over 100 weeks in that position during his career.
He is a six-time major champion, winning the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 and 2014 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship and the first golfer since Tiger Woods to achieve back to back Masters Tournament wins in 2025 and 2026.
McIlroy is one of six male golfers to achieve a modern career grand slam, and the only European to do so.
