There have been numerous big-name players throughout the years who have gone through tough times after achieving huge success earlier in their careers.
That’s why golf is such a difficult game to master. One day we feel like we have it and the next, golf clubs feel completely alien in our hands.
Even players who have won some of the very biggest championships in the game have drifted off into obscurity not long after.
That is what happened to one PGA Tour player who won The Open Championship many years ago now.
Even the very best in the world go through barren spells.
But unfortunately for one man, he never regained his confidence and was forced into an early retirement from the game, due to the rapid decline he endured.
He is the PGA Tour winner who won The Open but never triumphed again
The Open Championship is one of the most historic tournaments in the game.
It’s fair to say that the Claret Jug is the most prestigious and well-known trophy in the sport, with the likes of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy having all lifted it throughout the years.
What makes The Open Championship so great is the fact that every single department of players’ games are tested throughout the week.
That is exactly what happened when Ian Baker-Finch triumphed at Royal Birkdale way back in 1991.
He was sensational that week on the north-west coast of England and won by two strokes from Mike Harwood in the end, after shooting rounds of 64 and 66 over the weekend.
The Open Championship in 1991 was his second PGA Tour win, and unfortunately his last.
The 65-year-old Australian lost his swing not long after that, and he never won on the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour again.
Ian Baker-Finch’s collapse after winning The Open in 1991
Baker-Finch hit what he thought was his rock bottom in 1995 when he was paired with Arnold Palmer at St Andrews for ‘The King’s’ final Open Championship.
On the first tee, the Australian unfathomably snap-hooked his tee shot out of bounds to the left of the gaping wide fairway.
The first fairway at St Andrews is commonly known as the widest fairway in golf, and legend has it that the caddies who have worked there for decades have never seen any amateur golfer hit their ball out of bounds.
Then, two years later at Royal Troon, Baker-Finch’s major career finally ended after he shot a 92 in his opening round.
He withdrew ahead of his second round and never competed in another major championship again.
After finishing in a tie for 10th at The Masters in 1994, Ian Baker-Finch missed 10 straight cuts in major championships before he finally called it a day in 1997.
The good news is that he thrived during a magnificent broadcasting career after retiring from playing – one that he enjoyed right up until last year when he stepped away from that chapter of his life.
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