'Arise Sir Nick,' despite your Ryder Cup fiasco

Nick Faldo was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honors on Friday, for which he was widely lauded by a British media that nonetheless apparently has not seen fit to forgive him for Europe's loss to the U.S. in the Ryder Cup last year.

The Daily Mail, for instance, listed his accomplishments, then added this, in the fourth paragraph: "He did however captain the Europeans to defeat in last year's clash with the United States."

The BBC: "Faldo can add the knighthood to his tally of six major championship wins. But controversy has surrounded his tactics as captain of Europe's losing Ryder Cup team last year."

Scotland's Daily Record: "Faldo became the youngest player to qualify for the Ryder Cup at the age of 20 and spent 92 weeks as the world's No1. His Ryder Cup career culminated in his captaincy of the team last year, when they were crushed by the American side."

Sky Sports: "He also became the youngest player to qualify for the Ryder Cup at the age of 20 and captained the European team in last year's match against America in Kentucky. However, that proved to be a disappointing experience for the Englishman as his side were beaten while he himself came in for criticism of his style of captaincy."

The Telegraph: "The three times married golfer is renowned for his single-minded dedication to his game. But controversy surrounded his captaincy of Europe's losing Ryder Cup team last year which ended the streak of three successive victories for Team Europe."

Maybe the media there simply has a long memory, recalling his victory speech at the 1992 British Open, when he thanked the press there "from the heart of my bottom."

-- John Strege