Based on reaction to last week's column concerning the 1996 US Masters, it was clear further reminiscences on the career of Gregory John Norman were needed before this series came to a conclusion. Depending on the writer and the occasion, the Great White Shark was also referred to as the Great White Carp and even the Great White Minnow.
More than any golfer of recent times he was the one most qualified to claim: "I'd rather experience the agony of defeat and the ecstasy of victory than experience the great twilight that a lot of people live in."
Norman gave that quote after shooting an opening 63 at the 1994 Players' Championship. There is no doubt he was capable of putting together rounds of stunning brilliance. His record 63 at stormy Turnberry in the 1986 British Open was deemed at the time by Tom Watson to be the greatest round ever played in a tournament which he had contested. If anything, it was surpassed in 1993 when Norman won his second British Open with a closing 64 at Royal St George's.
That effort was so majestic you would wonder how he ever lost, but there is a lengthy catalogue of near misses too, some self-inflicted and some when Norman was beaten by opponents who made once-in-a-lifetime shots at critical moments.
1984 US Open, Winged Foot. Norman hit a six-iron from 163 yards to 10 feet and holed the putt to save par at the 17th, but, faced with a similar shot on the final hole, he sliced it 50 yards right of the target. A miraculous 40-foot putt kept him level with Fuzzy Zoeller, but in the Monday play-off Norman lost 69-75.
1986 Masters, Augusta. Norman rebounded from a double-bogey on the 10th with birdies at the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th. He needed another birdie to win or a par to tie Jack Nicklaus, but from the fairway Norman pushed his four-iron into the crowd right of the green and made bogey.
1986 US Open, Shinnecock Hills. Before the final round, Norman received a telegram from Australian prime minister Bob Hawke. "All Australia right behind you. I am sure that this time you can surpass your magnificent effort in the 1984 US Open and 1986 US Masters. All the very best. Bob Hawke." Norman missed a four-and-a-half- footer for par at the sixth and made four bogeys in five holes from the ninth. His five-over-par 75 left him tied 12th and six shots behind Ray Floyd.
1986 PGA Championship, Inverness. Norman completed the "Saturday Slam" by leading all four of the year's majors after three rounds. He was four ahead of Bob Tway with eight to play but only level on the 18th tee. Norman appeared to have the easier shot after both had missed the green, but Tway holed a bunker shot and Norman made bogey.
1987 Masters, Augusta. Undoubtedly the defeat that hurt Norman most. He lipped out for victory on the 72nd and then saw Larry Mize hole a miraculous chip on the second hole of sudden-death to claim the green jacket. "I don't think Larry could speak at that moment and I certainly couldn't," Norman confessed.
1989 British Open, Royal Troon. Level with Mark Calcavecchia on the last of the four play-off holes, Norman drove into one bunker, put his second in another and his third out-of-bounds. Game over.
1990 Nestle Invitational, Bay Hill. People were asking not how Norman would win a tournament but how he would lose one, and here came a new twist. Rookie Robert Gamez holed a seven-iron from 176 yards on the final hole and beat Norman by one shot.
1990 USF&G Classic, English Turn. Norman eagled the 15th and birdied the 16th and 18th to draw level with David Frost. Frost couldn't remember the last time he had holed a bunker shot, but he did so from 50 feet on the final hole to claim victory.
