Sandy Lyle holds a very unique double Major Championship victory distinction in this Coronavirus-stricken season.

Lyle is the only golfer to have won both the Masters and a Royal St. George’s Open Championship, and two of the four major venues in place at the start of 2020.

Of course, the 2020 Open Championship and due to be staged in July has been put back a year while the Masters has been rescheduled and bizarrely for the second week of November, and just two weeks before the official commencement of winter.

And while The Open has been pushed back 12 months, Lyle will head into 2021 still boasting the honour of being the only double Masters and Royal St. Georgie’s Open champion.

Dave Musgrove and Sandy Lyle lift the Claret Jug in 1995 at Royal St. George’s. and the AGWs John Whitbread left (in glasses).

Royal St. George’s has hosted The Open on 14 prior occasions and produced champions such as legendary Harry Vardon (1900, 1911), Walter Hagen (1922), Bobby Locke (1949), Bill Rogers (1981) and then Lyle four years later in 1985.

Three years later in 1988, Lyle became just the second European to be fitted with an Augusta National members green jacket.

And as Lyle, and like the rest of the world maintains #staysafestayhome measures at home in Scotland, he was asked if winning the Open was more special than The Open or a first Major sweeter than a Masters green jacket.

“You cannot say winning one was better than the other as each was very special,” he said.

“The Open was my first Major Championship win. It was a boyhood dream growing up in the UK to win the Open.  To win The Open was like a dream come true.

“Recognition-wise, winning the Masters and it being your second Major, and being in America and that special environment, was that little bit sweeter.

Sandy Lyle proudly pointing to the Augusta National logo and with 1987 champion, Larry Mize alongside the Scot.

“The Green Jacket is like the Claret Jug, but I think the Green Jacket has that edge on recognition. And I think it answered a lot of demons for me. I had taken on this Masters tournament from day one and kept the momentum going and lost the lead a little bit and basically had the lead for the whole week. It said a lot for myself, the questions and the doubts, am I capable of keeping going and keeping my game together?

“The Open was, I wouldn’t say a surprise, but I was lurking in the background so it came to me in a very, very quick way in the last three or four holes. The whole scenario of the tournament changed because my birdies and Langer and David Graham making little errors at 16 – quite a few shots all of a sudden just went ‘boom’ – and I am in the lead with a few to go. It was a spontaneous: ‘Boom, I have got the lead’. But at Augusta I had the lead day one, day two and day three and answered a lot of questions.”

Lyle was ranked No. 4 in the world ahead of the 1988 Masters and with victory lifting him above Bernhard Langer (3) and Seve Ballesteros (2) to second in the rankings behind Aussie Greg Norman.

It was Lyle’s highest position on the rankings but at in winning at Augusta National the Scot naturally felt top of the world.

“Yes, definitely I felt the best player in the world,” said Lyle.

“Given my results of the time I was hardly ever out of the top four and I had already had the Phoenix win and then the Greensboro win. I won the British Masters in June that year and also later in the year, the World Match-Play.

“So, at the time, you have to think I am the No.1 player even though I was flirting between one or two on a frequent basis for quite a few months.

“I never dominated like Seve or Greg Norman but it was nice to be up there and be recognised. You reap the rewards from that through lots of different things like dinners. So there a lot of things going on behind the scenes. Time get less and less for yourself.

“The years were coming and going very quick while holiday time is almost non-existent. I was coming home from Japan on the 15/16 December, doing Christmas shopping and before you know it was in the first week of January again. So, there was very little time before being back on the scene again.”

With the front gates of Augusta National closed what then is Lyle doing with himself to keep busy?

“I’m watching a lot of replays and it’s been interesting and strange when you have been going to Augusta for 30 plus years and have a routine when you head towards Augusta,” he said.

“There’s a long drive from Jacksonville for about five to six hours to get up there and there was July with the Open Championship.

“I was already thinking I might not be competing this year in The Open, and now it has been cancelled I’ll won’t have to worry about to next year.

“With so many tournaments either postponed or now cancelled it’s going to be a strange remainder of the year and one everybody will remember.

“All sports from Olympics, golf and football are taking a second seat.”