They expected a duel. What they got was a masterclass.
When the 1990 Open Championship teed off at the Old Course, everything was set for a blockbuster showdown between two of the game’s biggest names: Nick Faldo, the defending champion and two-time Masters winner, and Greg Norman, the bomb-swinging Aussie sitting at world No. 1. Both sat at 12-under after two rounds. The weekend wasn’t supposed to be easy — it was supposed to be electric.
Instead, Faldo turned the lights out.
Saturday: The Shift No One Saw Coming
Let’s rewind to that third round. Saturday links golf in Scotland, sunshine over St. Andrews, and the leaderboard reading like a dream.
And then?
Greg Norman blinked.
His tee shot at the 2nd hole found the green — great — but he three-putted for bogey. That one hurt. Then came the missed shorties, the bunkers at 12 and 13, and by the end of it, a shocking 76 had dropped him out of contention. From co-leader to chasing ghost stories in a few hours.
Meanwhile, Faldo was painting a masterpiece.
His 67 wasn’t flashy. It was surgical. Fairways, greens, steady nerves — the kind of round that doesn’t win you fans but wins you trophies. Aside from a small stumble at the Road Hole, Faldo looked like a man possessed. By Saturday night, he held a five-shot lead.
Sunday: No Drama, Just Domination
Even though the world hoped for fireworks between Faldo and Norman, they never shared a tee box that day. Norman was paired with Ian Baker-Finch. Faldo walked alone, metaphorically, and maybe a little literally too.
Because the final round was less about battling and more about bearing down.
While Norman continued to flail — trying to recapture some Friday magic that never showed up — Faldo kept his head down. He didn’t touch a bunker until the very end. He stuck an iron close at the 13th just as the nerves should’ve peaked. He made clutch par saves like he was walking through a casual Sunday round.
The galleries packed around the Valley of Sin waited for drama. Instead, they got inevitability.
The Final Blow
Faldo tapped in for birdie on the 18th to finish at 18-under par — a record at the time. His final tally: 67-65-67-71 = 270.
Greg Norman? He tied for sixth at 279. The gap was wide, but the gulf felt wider.
And here’s the kicker: Payne Stewart and Mark McNulty finished second — a full five shots back. Norman wasn’t even in the photo.
What It Meant Then — And Still Means Now
The Open Championship at St. Andrews is supposed to deliver suspense, heartbreak, redemption. But in 1990, it delivered something else entirely: control.
This wasn’t a comeback or a miracle. It was Faldo, at his absolute peak, putting on a clinical display of discipline and precision in the most unforgiving arena in golf.
And while Norman’s name still echoed that weekend — for what he didn’t do — it was Faldo’s that etched itself deeper into the history of the Old Course.
Sometimes greatness doesn’t shout.
It just taps in for birdie and walks off without looking back.
“Faldo didn’t just win — he erased the idea of a contest.”
