The reminiscent memories of 1980s and the top 15 golfers of that time (Part 2)
While Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer ruled the 70s golf culture, a few made their way into the 80s and hence our 15 player list. The bottom of the list witnesses Craig Stadler and the Dan Pohl play-off, Lee Trevino and his top finishes, Fuzzy Zoeller elimination
of Greg Norman and finally the-happy-go-lucky Payne Stewart standing at the last four places.
The Shark and Nintendo
Greg Norman’s golf and the Arcade games performance in the 80s have been good but not all-that dazzling. While these games became a huge market in 1982, Norman collected a total of 8 wins and two Major Championships. “The Shark” has a total of two British
Open titles which includes the 1986 British Open. The victory took place at Turnberry with a lead of 5 strokes, and hence he stands at the 11th place of our top 15 list.
The first half of the decade sent the Arcade games in a tremendous crash while the shark had been down in the popularity list. However, the second half of the decade had been positive - the games were revived after Nintendo emerged and Norman won the 1986
Majors.
Greg Norman is a player who had the dexterity, attitude and skill but he could have been much better. Keeping the 86 majors aside, Norman collected 4 second place finishes in his records. The Shark achieved the runner up positions in 1986 Masters and the
PGA Championship, the 1987 Masters and the 1984 U.S. Open.
Bernhard Langer and the Berlin Wall
Langer is considered to be a golfer who had a strongly felt presence. He collected a large amount of wins from the European Tour but Majors weren’t ignored either. Langer has a total of two Major wins in the 1980s and the Masters in 1985. Langer appeared
in ten Ryder Cup Championships where 6 of them appeared in the 80s.
He played the ‘85 Masters and defeated Seve Ballesteros, Curtis Strange and Ray Floyd. The victory was a two-stroke lead over the multi-talented trio.
The great fall of trio marked a famed year for the German, while his native country Germany rejoiced the fall of Berlin wall.
Ben Crenshaw and Chrysler
Another remarkable player from the eighties is Crenshaw, a Texan native. He is regarded as one of the greatest putters of all time and has ruled the Golf World rankings the longest. Crenshaw has collected 7 wins in the 80s. The earlier stated wins include
the 1984 Masters, where the Texan trounced Tom Watson with 2 strokes.
He is one of the longest golfers to rule the ranking list and stayed for a total of 80 weeks on the top. He ruled the boards from 1987 to 1989, a time when Chrysler bought the Lamborghini and Maserati Italian makes.
Sandy Lyle and the Lockerbie Disaster
One of the most dominant figures of the 80s is Sandy Lyle and holds the number eight position. The Scott recorded an impressive 6 victories from the PGA Tour which are three times more as compared to wins in Europe. He is the winner of two Majors where the
first one appeared in the 1985 British Open and the second one at the 1988 Masters.
The ‘85 tournament witnessed Lyle beating Payne Stewart by 1 shot at Royal St. George, while Mark Calcavecchia was beaten at the ’88 Masters with one stroke. Where Stewart and Calcavecchia chances of victory was destroyed by Lyle as the golfer captivated
many hearts, The Disaster Lockerbie killed approximately 243 passengers in Scotland and can never be forgotten.
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