Faldo will return to be Master

Two of Nick Faldo's greatest rivals yesterday backed him to beat his disastrous slump in form.

Former world No 1 Greg Norman believes playing in the US Masters next month could be just the spark Faldo needs, while Ryder Cup team-mate Bernhard Langer says it is only a matter of time before the six-time Major champion is back near to his best.

Faldo, who missed the halfway cut in the the Dubai Classic and went out in the first round of last week's World Match Play Championship, was on the brink of a third successive early exit yesterday after a first-round 73 in the Doral Open in Miami.

But Norman, who lost a six-shot, last-day lead to the Briton in the 1996 Masters, said: "I hate to see this happen to anybody, particularly a great player like Nick. It is in your head, your heart or your body and he is the only one who can figure it out.

"I am sure he will. Nick is too much of a competitor not to, and I don't expect this slump to last much longer. Maybe Augusta will provide the inspiration when he goes there next month.

"There isn't a player in this game who has been at the top without hitting the bottom at one stage or another. It isn't a question of whether you like a guy or not, we all sympathise and empathise with him."

Langer said: "Nick must be down because he was the greatest golfer in the world at the end of the Eighties and into the Nineties. I cannot pinpoint what his problems are but I am sure he will snap out of it. It's just a matter of time."

TRW