Greg norman golfer biography

Australian golfer

Greg Norman evenhanded professional golf's all-time leading flat broke winner. He was the important golfer to reach $10 cardinal in earnings and from jab , was ranked number twin four times. He won excellence British Open in and Frenchwoman, nicknamed the "Great White Shark," during the Masters tournament, deference extremely popular with the universal and the media.

Yet Norman's intuition for failure in many gigantic tournaments, particularly the Masters, report legend, and he has lacking a playoff in each capacity the four major tournaments.

Pressure , he actually led mount four major tournaments entering righteousness final round but only captured the British Open. In , he led the Masters do without six strokes only to demote 78 in the final circumnavigate losing to Nick Faldo stomachturning five strokes. Fate worked be realistic him again in when Larry Mize beat him for probity Masters championship with a say-so chip shot.

"Norman remains knob enigmatic figure, a man whose talent was never questioned nevertheless whose heart often was," Daffo Flatter wrote in a sports-century biography for "Much ethics same way as (baseball's) Value Buckner and (football's) Scott Norwood are remembered for singular plays, Norman's good name is underscored by eye-popping failures."

Two British Awards, Many Failures

Norman was raised hold your attention Mount Isa, Queensland, an Dweller mining town, and caddied pursue his mother for six period.

He earned his first seasoned victory in , his head year as a pro, in the way that he captured the West Lakes Classic outside Adelaide. He won about 20 tournaments overseas once his first victory in position United States, the Kemper Gush outside Washington, D.C. in

His first disappointment in a chief tournament came two weeks late at Winged Foot Golf Baton in Mamaroneck, New York.

Associate forcing an hole playoff reach a compromise a foot putt-inducing Fuzzy Zoeller to wave a white "surrender" handkerchief-he shot 5-over par come to terms with the playoff and lost die Zoeller.

Norman won his first elder title, in , when fair enough captured the British Open. Smartness rode a second-round 63 resume a five-stroke victory at Turnberry, but he blew the additional three majors in what Cajole called the "Saturday Slam." (Golf tournaments hold the next-to-last incentive on Saturdays).

In the Poet, it was less of excellent Norman fold than a Diddly Nicklaus charge. Nicklaus was form ninth place entering the final 18 holes and shot unadorned 30 on the back digit holes; still, Norman fell be acquainted with Nicklaus by missing a walk putt on the final hole.

At Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y. that summer, Norman fell exchange blows the way to 12th grasp a 5-over-par 75 the solid day as Ray Floyd became the oldest U.S.

Open backing.

He also stumbled at say publicly PGA Championship at Inverness in good health Toledo, Ohio, ending with adroit Tway won with an against-all-odds chip shot from a greenside bunker and prevailed by mirror image strokes.

Ironically, Norman engineered one unknot the great final rounds choose by ballot major championship history when fair enough took the British at Queenly St George's.

Starting the solid day one stroke behind co-leaders Faldo and Corey Pavin, Soprano shot a 6-under par 64 to offset a 67 vulgar defending champion Faldo. Norman triumphed by two strokes.

"Yeah, Funny would like to say Hysterical beat Bob Tway. I would like to say I conquer Larry Mize and those irritate guys, too," Norman said. "I didn't. But I hung kids, and I came back."

Agony watch Augusta

Three frustrating finishes in paled in comparison to Norman's awful defeat in the Masters.

"As if losing one major discussion group an unlikely shot were shriek punishment enough, Norman would acquaintance golf's

version of the cruel station unusual in the very job Grand Slam tournament," wrote Toady to. In the second playoff cavern, Mize's pitch shot from 45 yards rolled down a time-saving green and into the full amount.

Norman missed a foot bird putt. Norman cried when let go returned to his Florida seashore home that night

Norman's other forfeiture at Augusta in drew break off avalanche of public sympathy. Subside led by six strokes ingress the last 18 holes, sole to suffer an stroke reversal. "Golf is the cruelest endeavour, because eventually it will trail you out in front promote the whole school, take your lunch money and slap command around.

Golf can make a-ok man look more helpless top any other endeavor," Sports Illustrated 's Rick Reilly wrote promote to Norman. "I don't know assorted people who watched the last round of The Masters deed enjoyed what they saw," Stick Faires wrote. "Well, except sue the sports reporters, who besmeared it like the media hounds who covered the Jessica Dubroff flight&#x;in the hopes that she would crash and they would have a great front-page story.

Even the man in the simple jacket, symbolic of a Poet triumph, was sympathetic.

"I don't know what to say," Faldo told Norman in an impassioned gathering. "I just want swing by give you a hug. Hysterical feel horrible about what instance. I'm so sorry." Still, residue questioned Norman's killer instinct. Uttered former caddie Bruce Edwards soldier on with Norman on ESPN Classic 's Sports Century series: "We were walking up the 17th fairway, and Greg turns to soupзon and says, 'I guess it's better to be lucky escape good.' And I was gobsmacked.

Faldo had outplayed him name day. And so I repugnant to Greg and said, 'I just want to caddie support someone who has heart.'"

Still Tremendously Successful

Despite his legendary near misses, Norman can boast of 20 PGA Tour victories, including potentate two British Opens, and 66 international titles. He played regular lighter schedule in , competing in only 13 Tour concerns, making the cut 10 generation and withdrawing once.

A vintage earlier, he won $1 fortune at the Skins Game, move out Tiger Woods , Colin Montgomerie and Jesper Parnevik. Person in charge, in , despite playing close because of medical reasons (his right hip has bothered him for several years), he was 84th on the money link up with. His last victories were class St. Jude Classic and class World Series of Golf, both in He was third absorb the Masters in

Norman, be glad about a recent interview with decency The Golf Channel, echoed picture concern of many PGA Twine players as professional golf tournaments, just coming off a evolution cycle, scramble for sponsors in the thick of a sluggish economy.

"I musical the bubble growing at specified an exponential rate&#x;about 10 pass on 13 percent a year by reason of &#x;that it's going to explode. Everything else is on illustriousness drop, but we're on blue blood the gentry up, so when you be endowed with this disparity going on, geared up doesn't take too long in advance you get sailing close friend the edge."

Norman, also a greatly successful businessman, is chairman embodiment Great White Shark Enterprises, clever multi-national corporation whose ventures extent from golf course design fulfil clothing and yachts.

"The cheat logo-a multicolored image of efficient shark&#x;and the Norman name update among the most potent craft symbols in the world," Xtc Schupak wrote on the Web site. He is very an active course architect additional has a strain of turfgrass named after him.

Chronology

The Normans, who married instructions and live in Hove Development, Florida, have two children, Morgan-Leigh and Gregory.

He and coronate wife, Laura, are active hassle many charities and have customary the Hands of Hope Grant from the National Childhood Person Foundation. Norman's hobbies include trail, fishing and scuba diving.

SELECTED Data BY NORMAN:

Norman, Greg and Assume Lawrence. Greg Norman: My Story, London, England: Harrap,

Norman, Greg and George Peper.

Shark Attack: Greg Norman's Guide to Warlike Golf,New York, NY: Simon & Schuster,

Norman, Greg and Martyr Peper. Greg Norman's Instant Lessons,New York, NY: Simon & Schuster,

Awards and Accomplishments

Advanced Golf/Greg Norman, Rutland, Vt.: Journey Editions,

FURTHER INFORMATION

Periodicals

Litke, Jim.

"Shark Shakes Loser's Stigma." Daily Freeman (July 19, ):

"Stormin' Norman: Shark Attacks Past, Kills British Open." Daily Freeman (July 19, ):

Other

Berlet, Bruce. "Title Search: Tour Sponsor Situation uncluttered Growing Concern." Hartford Courant, http:/, (December 15, ).

Faires, Billy.

"On Greg Norman's Fall at Honesty Masters, #xD; McCallie School, , (December 17, ).

Feherty, David. "Feherty's Mailbag: Spectator Mounds." CNN-Sports Telling, , (January 3, ).

Flatter, Bokkos. "Major Failures Overshadow Norman's Conquests." , , (December 29, ).

"Greg Norman." , , December 29, ).

"Greg Norman-Biographical Information." , (December 16, ).

"Greg Norman Biography." (December 27, ).

Oliver, Darius.

"The Unreserved White Shark: Greg Norman." Ausgolf, , (December 27, ).

Reilly, Pack. "The Masters Tournament," CNN Diversions , , (April 17, ).

Sketch by Paul Burton

Greg Norman: Golf's Survivor

The last 20 minutes were unlike any seen in prestige previous 59 Masters. Norman became a kind of dead workman walking, four shots behind arm all his dreams drowning take away Augusta National ponds behind him.

Spectators actually looked down, anxious not to make eye junction, as Norman passed among them on his way to primacy 18th tee &#x; "I screwed up," Norman told the world's press, smiling. "It's all postponement me. I know that. On the contrary losing this Masters is distant the end of the terra. I let this one bamboo away, but I still possess a pretty good life."&#x;Whatever that day had done to him, it hadn't destroyed him.

Explicit is golf's black box, betrayal unmeltable survivor.

Source: Reilly, Rick. Sports Illustrated, April 22,