At the 1998 US Masters, Nick Faldo was speculated as one of the strong contenders to re-capture the title. But, the Ex-Masters Champ missed the cut after the second round. According to the reports, he was mastered by the gusty wind. If you are his fan, perhaps you wish to know what has gone wrong to his game. Many are wondering whether Nick will make a come back.

The market sentiment was that he is still mentally disturbed by his marriage problem. At one of the press interviews, he gave his side of story that he wanted to appear more often in the US tours. With this move he could spend more time with his American girl friend as her personal coach. Could this become another girl-boy problem? Please ask Nick but not Dick.

If you subscribe to any of the above theories, you would indirectly agree that golf is a highly mental game? But if you look at his swings, perhaps you can get close to the real answer to his problem. Nick Faldo is a very meticulous player who can really focus on his game. He has been regarded as a technical player on the course.

At the 1996 US Masters, he defeated Greg Norman by a wide margin [This is another big story if you re-play the tapes]. At the tournament he used the delofted hit technique to shape loft and roll shots for his approach shots to the greens. This was good for Long Par4 and Par 5 holes. However, this did not make him a long hitter on the tour. He won by his good course management and his super short game. Now the Augusta has been modified and up-graded to reward all round players and players who are able to produce long lofted shots. Perhaps, his new swing that he adapted from Ernie Els has not been perfected.

If you can recall the 1997 Ryder Cup, he changed his swing or stance from the single flex that made him win the 1996 US Masters to that of the double flex with [C] Grip. But he lost the match play to Jim Furyk who invented his own orthodox swing. At the Jan 1998 Johnny Walkers, he made another shift of his game by adopting a triple-flex swing pioneered by Ernie Els. This technique is goof for creating a delofted sweep that makes the ball roll more when it lands. Perhaps this, among other things, helped him finish top ten of the leaders' board as you can notice his long drive off the tee. This triple flex is ideal for longer clubs and the driver but is not suitable for short and mid-irons for distance control. This is because the triple flex can produce powerful loft and roll shots for distance. But the Augusta did not favour it or buy this idea at all. Even Ernie Els did not use the triplex flex stance for his short or mid-irons. Instead, he used the double flex similar to Davis Love III's swings.

So for Nick Faldo, to come back again, he has to re-work on his swing, change his set of clubs to suit the playability level and characteristics of the course