Less work and more play for Faldo

Nick Faldo continued his search for a first solo win in five-and-a-half years today.

But his way of going about it at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland, where he was lying joint second entering the second round, was far different from the approach he employed in the mid-1980s.

If you wanted to find Faldo then there was a good chance that if he was not on a golf course he was practising near one.

"I used to hit about 1,500 balls a day," said the 45-year-old, reflecting on the years he spent re-inventing his swing with former coach David Leadbetter.

"I couldn’t grip the club at about three in the afternoon and then I used to go for a swim and like a mug come back and hit more."

Now, partly because of his age and partly out of choice, his time on the range is nothing like the same.

"I try and deliberately go the other way - a maximum of 100 and maybe just one bucket of balls after a round.

"Mentally I’m just trying to let it happen on the course and it’s kind of nice when you are standing over a shot to have a choice and make yourself go for it rather than play safe."

To be enjoying the game as much as he is quite a turnaround from just 14 months ago, when Faldo - as he revealed yesterday - felt close to quitting the game.

After missing the halfway cut in the Open championship for the second time in three years at Lytham Faldo was starting to think of other things he would rather be doing.

"I was really down," he said. "I was arguing with people that I should quit and just build courses and have a bit of fun. I told them to come up with a good reason why I should carry on."

It took the combination of his wife (fiancée at the time), business partner, sports psychologist and physiotherapist to convince him that there was more for him to achieve - but he also began to realise it was not the way to bow out.

"I’m not a giver-upper, even if I’m down low. After you have time to think about it and come to your senses, I’m not going to give in."

After taking time off to work on his game, his fitness and his attitude he came out this year and was 10th, sixth and third on his first three starts.

A fourth place finish in the Volvo PGA Championship and fifth spot in the US Open - his best performance in a major for six years - followed and now, after more disappointments at the Open and US PGA, he is in contention again and hoping he can capture his first solo title since the Nissan Open in Los Angeles in March 1997.

"I’ll take it step-by-step,” added Faldo, a stroke behind Swede Robert Karlsson overnight.

“I’m just trying to be very disciplined out there, trying to do what I want to do on each shot. If I keep doing that we shall see, but it’s good to feel a bit of pressure."

After a round which included a three-iron to 10 feet for eagle on the first (actually his 10th) and chip-in birdie at the 12th, all manner of things seem possible again.

And that includes being a playing-captain of Europe’s next Ryder Cup team.

Faldo and Bernhard Langer are the two front-runners to take over from Sam Torrance and on the chances of combining that with winning a record 12th cap he says: "It would make the job very difficult, but you never know."