Nick Faldo's three Masters wins are legendary. But his defining moments at Augusta weren't just his own. They were built on lessons from two other giants of the game: Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros.

Thirty years after winning his third green jacket, Faldo spoke with the DP World Tour on April 6 about Augusta National. He talked about what helped European players succeed.

"We owe it to Seve," Nick Faldo said. "He broke the ice, because going to play that golf course, we had nothing like that in Europe."

Severiano Ballesteros won the Masters in 1980 and 1983, and he was the first European to really figure out Augusta. Faldo believes that without Seve showing it could be done, that mental block might not have gone away.

The greens were another challenge, and the only similar ones European players saw were in Australia, at Royal Melbourne and courses like it. Augusta was a completely different learning experience.

Eventually, Faldo’s breakthrough came during a practice round when he spoke with Nicklaus. He was playing well but kept missing his chances. So he asked Jack a simple question, do you make it happen or do you let it happen?

"Jack typically goes, yeah," Faldo recalled. "He says, I know what you mean, and just walks away."

Faldo decided to let it happen, and it worked. He played his first 27 holes at six under and led by two as he reached the 10th. Then it all went wrong. He shot 77 in the third round and dropped way back.

Then came the moment at 16. His ball was just off the green, about 15 feet from the hole with a big break. The putt went in. He made another one on 17. That pushed him into a playoff, where he beat Scott Hoch.

But of all the times he won at Augusta, there was one that stood out.

Nick Faldo in 1996

The 1996 Masters never really ended for Faldo. Greg Norman carried a six-shot lead into Sunday, and Faldo shot 67.

Norman shot 78, and Nick Faldo won by five. Three decades on, people still bring it up everywhere he goes.

"I travel the world and everywhere I go, every airport, somebody will come up to me and say, 'You and Greg, 1996, I watched that,'" Faldo said. "That's pretty darn cool, isn't it."

No arrogance in it, just a man genuinely surprised the moment still lands. Three Masters titles across eight years. And it's always 1996 that comes up first.

What do you think about Nick Faldo's Masters memories? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar