PRESSBOOK MCB TC 2023

Fortunately, it turned out not to be meningitis, so my wife Helen stayed with her and I came back late once I knew she was safe. Bernard Gallacher was waiting for me, wondering if I was going to play and I said, “If she has a good night tonight, I’ll play.” He said, “I’ll keep you in the draw. Now, do you want the good news or the bad news?” I said, “The bad.” He said, “You got Corey Pavin.” I said, “What’s the good news?” He said, “There isn’t any.” Pavin was on fire at that time, probably their strongest player. It was a great game that went down the last. I was 1-up playing the 18th and I had two putts to win. I then went and holed it from about 30 foot. Perfect. I think he had 25 putts that round and I had 24. So, between us, 49 putts for 36 holes.

Below: Baker honed his swing alongside Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam, two of the finest ball-strikers British golf has ever seen.

with his spikes. Barry, God bless him, gave him an earful. I gave him an earful, and there was a bit of a kerfuffle. I missed the putt and that was exactly what Seve had warned us about: the break in concentration at the wrong time. We lost the match 3&2 on the next hole. I was back out in the afternoon, with Woosie, against Azinger and Couples and we beat them 6&5. I played well, Woosie was hopeless. He’d say that himself. I played fantastic and holed them from everywhere and we gave them a right smashing. We were a point ahead going into the singles. But then my daughter fell ill. She went to hospital that night with suspected meningitis. I left straight after play in the ambulance with her, and we spent a few hours up there.

It was bittersweet in the sense I had won my singles and won three points overall, but we had lost the cup. We were all disappointed because we led up until about the last half hour. And we then had to go to a dinner, which is unbelievable when you think about it. At about half past 10 all the Americans went to bed, except for Payne Stewart. He came

‘I’d love to go back to my day with the technology they’ve got now; to know you’re doing the right thing, rather than having to search for it’

into our team room and was playing the harmonica. Fantastic guy. It was the losing team that actually had a big late-night party. Everybody was there. And Payne. We had some big egos in our team but the main guys were like father figures. They were there for you and were telling you how good you were. And obviously standing next to Seve, Faldo, Langer, Woosie or Sandy, you feel good because you know they’re the best players in the world. It was quite a tight unit. They were all single minded but they didn’t put themselves over in the corner; they were right in there with the team. They all brought something different to the team. You had Faldo’s consistency. Langer was one of the greatest ‘scorers’ ever, a machine. If he didn’t have the best mind ever, it’s up there. Woosie was swashbuckling and unbeatable when he was on; his driving and long irons were immense. Sandy made it look so easy, though I’m not sure he ever realised how good he was. And then Seve; how can you sum him up? I was lucky to play with Seve more than 30 times in my career. You’d be in the bar afterwards telling the others how he was on that fairway and he hit this shot to six feet. He was just Seve. I’d love to go back to my day with the science and the technology they’ve got now. And I’d love to have the fitness insight they’ve got now; to know you’re doing the right thing, rather than having to search for it. If you have a few good years on tour you are set for life these days. A lot of us had good years and weren’t set for life. But I think we enjoyed ourselves more and I wouldn’t change that, even if the explosion in prize money is incredible. Success on the Legends Tour this season crept up on me a bit. I didn’t expect it, though I did work very hard over the winter before the season began. Obviously you’re fighting the clock, so you’ve got no choice but to work hard at it. But that last shot to win at Belle Mare Plage and clinch the Order of Merit is right up there with any I’ve hit in my career.

56

ISSUE 449 TODAYS-GOLFER.COM