Athletes Who Have Tried Reflexology- Sandy Lyle

By Flickr User Peter Allen

Golfer Sandy Lyle

Work on his feet by his Dutch girlfriend and golf tour masseuse Jolande Huurmand is credited with helping Australian golfer Sandi Lyle relax, sleep and win the Masters Golf Tournament.

“Jolande Huurman came to public attention a week ago when Lyle, leading the Masters, made an offhand remark in a press conference about ‘going back to the hotel and having my girlfriend tickle my feet.’ As it turned out, attention to his feet may have had a bearing on his Masters triumph. ‘The night before the last round at the Masters, he was restless, couldn't sleep, kept tossing and turning,’ Huurman said. ‘I massaged his feet, 20 minutes on each foot, looking for pressure points. It relaxed him completely and he slept like a baby.’”

“It is part of the massage treatments she performed in a five year stint on the European PGA Tour. … “During her time on the European tour, she said, she treated Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and many others. ‘I’d concentrate on the pressure points, try to isolate the energy lines that run throughout the body. It would relax them completely,' she said. … “It got so many of them preferred the massage to going out and having beers to relax,' Huurman said.” (Apr. 17, 1988 Daily News (Sacramento, CA), “Lyle is finding success with companion”)