Laureation address: Sandy Lyle MBE
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws
Laureation by Robert Fleming, Director of Development
Tuesday 12 July 2022
Vice-Chancellor, it is my privilege to present for the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, Alexander Walter Barr Lyle.
I will try and keep this as short and quick as possible for two reasons: first, Sandy has always been known as a quick player; and second, whenever you are ahead of Jack Nicklaus on the starter sheet, you should not hold up play.
Sandy Lyle was born in February 1958 in Shrewsbury to Scottish parents Alex and Agnes Lyle, and he spent his early years at Hawkstone Park Golf Club where his father was the head professional. Sandy won the 1975 English Amateur Stroke Play Championship at 17 and was a member of the 1977 Walker Cup before turning professional and representing Scotland throughout his career, including three World Cups and seven Dunhill Cups. He was the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 1978 and the European Tour Order of Merit Winner in 1979, 1980, and 1985. He has amassed 30 professional victories in his career – including two majors and played in five Ryder Cups from 1979 to 1987. Sandy won one and a half points in his rookie Ryder Cup in 1979 (although it should be acknowledged he lost to Lee Trevino in the singles!). But – Sandy was part of the victorious Europe side at the Belfry in 1985 (to a US side captained by Lee Trevino), and again in 1987 at Muirfield Village Ohio – the first time the US side had ever lost on home soil – to a US side captained by Jack Nicklaus!
But it is for his major victories in 1985 when he won The Open Championship at Royal St George’s, and in 1988 when he won the Masters, that he will be best remembered. Sandy has commented that he is constantly surprised that people like to congratulate him and tell him who they were with and what they were doing when he won.
Not to disappoint, I was only twelve years old when Sandy won The Open, and it is no exaggeration to say he was a boyhood hero of mine – watching every minute of the BBC coverage at home – and I even entered a local art competition with a portrait of Sandy lifting the Claret Jug aloft that was then displayed in my hometown’s library!
At Royal St George’s, in testing conditions, Sandy secured victory in the back nine, including a notable birdie on the 14th when he hit a two iron to the edge of the green and holed a 45-foot putt for an unlikely birdie. By the 17th he was aware he had a one-shot lead. However, there was drama to follow on the 18th, and I am not talking about fluffed chips.
In the group ahead, Peter Jacobsen was confronted by a male streaker running onto the green, and the American golfer produced an excellent rugby tackle to help the Kent Constabulary detain the intruder. Peter Alliss, who will be celebrated tomorrow in a memorial service in this hall, described it on-air at the time as “a lot of fuss about a little thing like that”.
The commotion and delay may have proved a welcome distraction to gather one’s thoughts before teeing off, but a chip shot from the infamous Duncan’s Hollow came up short. It left both David Graham and Bernard Langer with opportunities to tie and force a play-off with birdies on the last. However, the agonising wait did not last too long: they both ended up with bogeys, giving Sandy victory, and fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming the Champion Golfer of the Year – the first Briton since Tony Jacklin in 1969, and the first Scot to win The Open since Tommy Armour in 1931.
Sandy was in the form of his life. At the Masters the following year Sandy tied eighth, but he was witness to Jack’s astonishing final round 65 which brought him his sixth Masters victory, and it was perhaps the inspiration for things to come for Sandy at Augusta National.
In 1987 Sandy won the Tournament Players Championship, the ‘fifth major,’ and in 1988, Sandy led the US money list going into the Masters – winning the Greater Greensboro the week before.
Sandy had led from the second round; but again, he did not make it easy for his adoring fans back home watching the BBC coverage of the back nine holes, well beyond midnight, but the seven iron from the bunker, followed by the downhill putt on 18, and a brief but memorable highland fling that heralded Sandy’s win, was worth the wait, making Lyle not just the first Scot, but the first ever UK winner of the Masters.
1988 proved to be Sandy’s most memorable year, adding the Phoenix Open, the Dunhill British Masters, and the Suntory World Matchplay Championship to his Masters victory. He won on the Seniors Tour at the 2011 ISPS Handa Senior World Championship, and laterally he took up hickory golf, winning the World Hickory Open in 2014 and 2016. So, he won four ‘Majors’ in the end!
Sandy was awarded an MBE in 1987, witnessed by his beloved parents, and was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in May 2012. He is joined by his wife Jolande today, and he holds his four children above any major. But his love of golf continues to this day, and his passion for the game is shown by his willingness to put himself through the gruelling Open Championship Qualifying for St Andrews, even though injured.
I will leave the final word on Sandy Lyle to Seve Ballesteros, also an honorary graduate and much missed. Seve wrote the foreword to Sandy’s autobiography To The Fairway Born. I quote:
“Sandy’s outstanding record…is basically due to his huge talent as a player but also because he has one of the best virtues when facing challenges: patience. He is not only one of the most patient people I have ever met – with or without a golf club in his hand – but also one of the most generous in spirit.”
Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of his major contribution to golf and for his inspiration to generations of golfers, young and old, I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on Sandy Lyle.