Two players Nick Faldo named in golf’s ’big three’ in 2015 are now ranked outside the world’s top 40

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Sir Nick Faldo was ranked as the world number one for a total of 97 weeks in the early 1990s, so he knows all about what it takes to succeed at the very highest level of the game.

Faldo was a dominant force in professional golf for just under a decade from when he won his first major at The Open in 1987 up until his sixth, and last, major at The Masters in 1996.

The Englishman’s game regressed badly after that win at Augusta National, around the same time that Tiger Woods burst onto the scene.

Faldo firmly believes it’s easier to be an elite player now than it was during his heyday. Whether you agree with that or not, what cannot be disputed is that the six-time major winner was one of the best ball-strikers in the history of the game.

When he was a young man, Faldo idolized Jack Nicklaus, and he modeled his entire game on the 18-time major champion.

The man from Welwyn Garden City, England had incredibly high standards.

So it’s fair to suggest that whenever he says he rates someone, you know they must have something special about them.

Two players Nick Faldo named in golf’s ’big three’ in 2015 are now ranked outside the world’s top 40

Rory McIlroy was one of the golfers who Faldo named in his ‘new big three’ a decade ago.

And since then, McIlroy has not disappointed. The Northern Irishman has only won one major during that period, but he could have easily won two or three more.

He has racked up 18 PGA Tour victories and nine DP World Tour wins since Faldo’s comments in November 2015.

However, the other two golfers who Faldo picked when naming his so-called ‘big three’ – Jordan Spieth and Jason Day – have failed really to kick on in the manner that many expected them to.

When speaking to Reuters back in 2015, Faldo outlined just how healthy the game was, despite Tiger Woods’ drop-off in form due to a succession of serious injury problems.

He said: “Many thought it was all doom and gloom and golf would start to fall off people’s interest after Tiger Woods’ dominance, but the quality of golf this season was astonishing.”

“I call them the ‘New Big Three’ (McIlroy, Spieth and Day) and fortunately they are being chased by a dozen other guys. TV ratings are up 30 percent in America, people are watching.

“Kids who used to be surfing dudes are now talking golf, that’s the important thing,” said Faldo. “I’ve been travelling the world and everybody’s now talking golf.

“Hopefully we’ve got a generation of three players for at least the next 10 years who can keep bashing each other’s brains in.“

It hasn’t quite worked out that way, though. The emergence of Justin Thomas not long after Faldo’s comments, and then the likes of Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler four or five years later, saw Day and Spieth’s task of winning golf tournaments a whole lot more difficult.

Jason Day and Jordan Spieth’s major records since Nick Faldo’s comments

Day is now ranked 47th in the world, while Spieth is down in a lowly 65th spot in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Spieth has won one major since Faldo named him as part of golf’s big three in 2015, but

The number of cuts that the two players have missed since The Masters in 2016 just goes to show how inconsistent they have both been, especially Day.

Day and Spieth are nowhere near the top-20 in the world right now, let alone the top three!

Right now, the ‘big three’ on the PGA Tour are undoubtedly Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, despite Russell Henley and Xander Schauffele currently sitting ahead of the Englishman in the world rankings.

All of those players will be hoping to maintain the levels they’ve shown over the past few years for the next decade.