Sandy Lyle Shared 3 Top Tips With Us Prior To Winning The Masters in 1988... And They Could Still Save You Shots 37 Years Later

The first Major of the season is right around the corner, so what better way to kick things off than by taking a an almost four decade old trip down memory lane to the first ever British winner of The Masters - the one and only Sandy Lyle.

The World Golf Hall of Famer is not only one of the best ball strikers of all time, but he is also somebody who has a wealth of knowledge and expertise that would be invaluable to the average amateur golfer.

So, I did a little digging in the Golf Monthly archive for some Lyle-wisdom... and I only went and hit gold. Back in January 1988, three months before Lyle won the Green Jacket at The Masters, he shared three excellent tips to navigate sloped lies effectively.

Augusta National is famous for its meandering slopes and majestic undulations, so I wouldn't be surprised if these very tips in some way helped Lyle to hold off the likes of Calcavecchia, Stadler, Norman, Couples and Crenshaw.

Therefore, in the interest of helping you play your best golf in the 2025 season, I have shared Sandy Lyle's original thoughts from 37-years ago...

How To Adjust Your Setup For Sloped Lies

Tips by...

Tips by...

Sandy Lyle

Sandy Lyle made history in 1988 by becoming the first person from the United Kingdom to win The Masters.

His momentous achievement at Augusta National Golf Club added a second Major Championship to his collection, following a 1985 Open Championship victory at Royal St. George's Golf Club.

Lyle as accrued 18 European Tour wins and 6 PGA Tour victories in a glittering career that saw him reach No.2 In the Official World Golf Rankings.

It's inevitable that you will face severe uphill, downhill, and sidehill lies on the links courses of Great Britain and Ireland. Such lies are not so common on inland courses, but you'll run into these "beauties", somewhere, sometime, so be prepared.

Look at these shots as challenges. After all, awkward lies have been part of the game's history ever since the first shots were hit off the undulated fairways of St. Andrews.

The high handicap player panics when facing such on-course predicaments, simply because they know they are unprepared. They don't bother to learn and practise the proper techniques involved, because they figure they'll only run into a truly tricky lie once or twice during a round.

And if the golfing gods are on their side, maybe they will be lucky enough to play all eighteen holes without having to hit one shot off a hilly lie. What's more, in the past, they've probably been able to recover thirty per cent of the time, by virtue of fate, improvisation or, to their credit, by using common sense.

Consequently, they're willing to take their chances. By adopting this attitude, they're treating golf as they would a lottery. If the shot comes off, jolly good, if not, that's okay too. I have nothing against a golfer who plays with this outlook, providing they don't cry into their beer at the 19th, blaming a hilly lie for a high score on a hole.

Those who do complain fail to accept the facts: The only way to recover consistently well from hilly lies, is to learn the various methods, and to practise them over and over.

I acknowledge those who argue that it's difficult to practise hilly lies: Yes, often one's local courses are flat, as are the majority of practice grounds. And if a course does feature rolling fairways, it is usually too crowded for members to hit shots off hilly spots, or the club forbids such on-course practising. All the same, I am still a strong supporter of that well-known cliche, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Booking a lesson with your local pro, going to a tournament and watching pros hit shots off slopes, or viewing their techniques on television, are all excellent alternatives to sitting around doing nothing. The fact that you are reading this shows you are really making an effort to learn the game - the right way. And I am sure it will pay off.

Uphill Lies

The common error that the average golfer makes when playing a shot off an uphill lie, is to leave their weight on the right foot in the downswing. The reason: a faulty set-up.

Consequently, they lose their balance, sway off the ball in the backswing, are unable to swing the club down smoothly with their arms, they makes a desperate flick at the ball with their hands, and end up hitting a pull.

Setting up with the ball just about midway in your stance, and aiming your body to the right, will help solve the problem of hitting the ball left of the target. The number one key, however, for playing shots of this type of lie, is to tilt your body to the right, at address, so that it is at right angles to the slope. By setting up in this fashion, in effect, you give yourself a flat lie.

Flexing your left knee drastically and bracing your right leg are important features of the set-up, too, for they serve as aids to balance, and build a firm foundation.

Naturally, from this set-up position, leg and hip action will be restricted, but that's a plus, because you will need to swing the club, essentially, with your arms.

If you settle into a severe slope correctly, and make allowances for the pull by aiming right, and for a high flight by taking one more club, you will automatically swing the club low going back up the slope coming through, and come out of this trouble spot "smelling like a rose".

Sandy Lyle's Farewell to Augusta National | The Masters - YouTube

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Downhill Lies

Again, the solution to the problem of playing this shot is to tilt yourself perpendicular to the slope. There are numerous ways to hit the ball off this type of lie, but through trial-and-error, I think I have discovered the simplest, and most foolproof method. In a nutshell, here it is:

With the ball played back, stand open, and set the clubface open a hair to offset the tendency to hit a pull. Allowing your wrists to be lively, swing the club back on an upright plane, with your hands and arms. Swing the club down with the slope and stay with the shot, by maintaining your knee flex and "chasing" the ball with the clubhead, through impact.

NOTE: If you prefer to keep the clubface square at address, play one less club, as the ball position causes your hands to be ahead of the ball, and the clubface to be de-lofted.

Simulating The Slope

To develop an awareness of the desired ascending angle of the swing, place a range ball bucket under your left foot.

Practising wood and iron shots from this awkward position will give you a feel for the correct swinging action. In no time, you'll build confidence and be able to conquer the course, even if every other shot is off an uphill lie.