The last few years have been tough on Faldo, with his ranking in free fall and his personal life in constant disarray.
But up he popped in Asia earlier this month, a new man. Witty and personable with the press, confident in his game and with a fresh lady on his arm.
He quoted Austin Powers, from the cult film The Spy Who Shagged Me , in referring to Tiger Woods as 'pretty hot, baby', revealed he had proposed marriage to new flame Valerie Bercher - a 26-year-old Swiss Miss - in the romantic environs of Paris and praised long-time caddie Fanny Sunesson for her loyalty and ability.
She had been, he said, the one constant in his life during the past decade. Fanny, it was, who knelt behind him to line up the putts and stood beside him as their breakfast eggs were cooked.
The 'new' Faldo then went out and shot four rounds of par or better to finish joint 12th in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan. Just maybe, we thought, given his stable state of mind, Faldo could make a comeback and fulfil his prediction of winning another Major.
Then he was booted. Swede Sunesson, in her own quiet way as ambitious as her boss, told Faldo she was seeking another bag, another golfer.
'The one constant in his life' was not that permanent.
It just so happens that Sunesson quit around about the same time young gun Sergio Garcia was firing his caddie Jerry Higginbotham and there was immediate speculation she would join the Spaniard in a dream-team combination.
Just as Faldo must have been stunned by Sunesson's decision, Higginbotham was shocked that Garcia chose to axe him after an incredible rookie season.
The story goes that Garcia was not happy at the publicity resulting from Higginbotham being beaten up in a Boston hotel after the Ryder Cup and also blamed his caddie for a poor display in his debut in Japan last week (Garcia received a two-stroke penalty after making an illegal drop). Higginbotham must be wondering if he has body odour, bad breath or both because Mark O'Meara also dismissed him after the American had won the US Masters and British Open in the same season.
'Sergio's only 19, and he wants everything. He'll probably learn down the road that just because you have one bad week, it's not the caddie's fault,' was his parting shot.
Mike 'Fluff' Cowan, whose big hands were prised from Tiger Woods' bag after he started receiving more attention (he had his own Web page, fluffsite.com) than the young superstar, does not hold similar bad feelings.
Asked in Taiwan for his thoughts on parting company with the world number one, Cowan replied: 'Get the lingo right, I was sacked. But that does not matter, I have been fired before and will be fired again.' Caddying for golf's greats is almost as precarious and thankless a job as being England's football manager.
Wonder if anybody has told Kevin Keegan that Faldo is looking for a bag carrier.
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