Greg Norman

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Greg Norman

Personal Information
Birth:	10 February 1955, Mount Isa, Queensland
Height:	-
Nationality:	Australia
Residence:	Hobe Sound, Florida
Career
College:	n/a
Turned Professional:	1974
Current Tour:	{{{current tour}}}
Professional wins:	-
Majors:	British Open (1986, 1993)
Awards:	-

Gregory John Norman AM (born February 10, 1955) is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's number one ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s. He is nicknamed "The Great White Shark", or simply, "The Shark", a reference to a shark inhabiting Australian waters as well as Norman's size and blond locks.

Contents 1 Career outline 2 Personal life 2.1 Transport 3 Major Championships 3.1 Wins (2) 3.2 Results timeline 4 PGA Tour wins (20) 5 European Tour wins (14) 6 Wins in Australasia (33) 7 Other wins (22) 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Career outline

Norman was born in Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. He began his career as a trainee in the Royal Queensland golf shop for the famed Charlie Earp, earning AUD 28 a week.^[1] The first professional tournament he won was the 1976 Westlakes Classic in his home country, and he soon moved on to success on the European Tour and later the PGA Tour.

Norman won The Open Championship twice, in 1986 and 1993, and also won The Players Championship in 1994 in record-setting fashion (averaging 68.81 per round for the year). Despite his huge success on the U.S. PGA Tour and his many wins around the world, Norman will be forever regarded as an underachiever (given his talents), a characterization fueled by his myriad near-misses in The Masters, the U.S. Open, and the PGA Championship. He was equally a victim of his own bad luck and good luck on the part of his fellow golfers in major championships. He infamously lost a near-certain PGA Championship in 1986 after Bob Tway holed a greenside bunker shot (though Norman himself shot a 76 that day), and lost The Masters the following year in a playoff on an even more miraculous 45-yard chip shot by Larry Mize on the second play-off hole.

But not all of Norman's Major woes have been at the hands of others. Many times he has failed to perform in the final round of a tournament, whether it be a final-round 78 in the Masters (see below), a 73 in the 1995 US Open where even-par 70 would have won the tournament, or the 76 in the '86 PGA that set him up to be defeated by Bob Tway's bunker shot. Several of Norman's infamous "chokes" occurred when his wobble-prone putting got the better of him. In 1986, he led all four majors after the third round but won only the British Open. (This is jokingly referred to as the "Norman Slam" or the "Saturday Slam," as in he was leading after the third round on Saturday but lost in the final round on Sunday). He is one of only two players to have competed in - and, like Craig Wood, to have lost - play-offs in all four of the major championships. But perhaps the most embarrassing Norman meltdown of all occurred at The Masters in 1996, where he blew a six-stroke lead in the final round and lost the tournament to Nick Faldo by five strokes, shooting a Sunday 78 to Faldo's 67. ESPN, as part of their "ESPN25" 25th-anniversary celebration, ranked Norman's 1996 Masters mishap as the third-biggest sports choke of the last 25 years. Despite the losses, though, Norman still has twenty nine top-ten finishes in the majors.

After Jack Nicklaus left his prime, Norman was regarded as probably the game's greatest long hitter. In his heyday, driving long and incredibly straight off the tee with a persimmon (wood) clubhead, he intimidated most of his fellow professionals. However, with the advent of the "metal-wood" by TaylorMade and other subsequent advances in golf ball & golf club technology (especially the variable face depth driver), his dominance was significantly diminished, as the "new technology" enabled less precise ball-strikers than Norman to achieve equal (or even better) results in accuracy and distance. But whether the cause was shaken confidence, the new technology, or the emergence of golf's next generation of young stars (including Tiger Woods), Norman was never the same after his final Masters collapse. In the years since, Norman has focused more and more on business ventures and golf course design than on competitive play. He turned fifty in February 2005, but has not yet become a regular on the senior golf circuit, because of his other interests, significant back injuries and because he required knee surgery in October 2005 and February 2006.^[2]

Norman's friendly image and articulate nature has made him a perfect spokesman for a wide range of products, including the usual array of golf equipment but extending well beyond. While continuing to play tournaments (albeit in an abbreviated schedule), his growing business interests take up an increasing amount of his time. His personal wealth is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.

Norman's hobbies include offshore game fishing—he has owned a succession of increasingly large and luxurious boats (though his latest, called Aussie Rules, after the sport Australian rules football, may best be described as a small ship) for the purpose — and wine drinking. He became a wine lover in the 1970s while playing at tournaments in Europe.^[3] Based in Hobe Sound, Florida, he typically plays only one or two tournaments per year in his homeland which rests easily with other Australians too.

Norman won the PGA Tour of Australia's Order of Merit six times: 1978, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1988. He won the European Tour's Order of Merit in 1982, and topped the PGA Tour's Money List in 1986, 1990, and 1995. He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average on the PGA Tour three times: 1989, 1990, and 1994; and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001. His dominance over his peers (despite his comparative lack of success in the majors) was probably best expressed in the Official World Golf Rankings: Norman finished the season on top of the ranking list on seven occasions, in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996 and 1997, and was second at the end of 1988, 1993 and 1994.

In 1986, Norman was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award, a feat he replicated in 1993 to join Muhammad Ali and Björn Borg as multiple winners (They have since been joined by Roger Federer).

[edit] Personal life

Norman married an American named Laura in 1981 and they have two children Morgan Leigh, and Gregory. The family lived in Hobe Sound, Florida. His daughter attended Boston College, and for a short while dated Sergio García. ^[4] In May 2006 he announced that he would be getting divorced. He refused to comment on the reasons for this, other than to say that no third party was involved. He is now rumored to be dating former tennis star Chris Evert.^{[5] [6][7][8]}

[edit] Transport

Norman and his wife commissioned the 270 ft luxury yacht "Aussie Rules", built by Australia ferry builder Austal/Oceanfast. The boat held four sports boats, including a 60ft custom sportfisherman, along with stowage for related gear: 200 rods. Built of aluminium, she could cruise at 15 knots with a range of 8,000 Nm ^[9]. The boat cost $70 million, but resulted in Austal making an AUS$18 million loss. The boat was quickly sold by Norman in 2004 for a rumoured $77 million to the founder of Blockbuster Video, Wayne Huizenga ^[10]. She is now renamed M/Y Floridian, and available for charter at $400 000 per week or sale ^[11]

Norman was also an early customer for the Boeing Business Jet, which he had ordered with custom fitted bedroom and office. However, the downturn in the Asian markets adversely affected his golf course design business, and he latterly cancelled the order after acting as an ambassador for Boeing ^[12] He eventually retained his Gulfstream V ^[13]

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runners Up
1986	The Open Championship	1 shot lead	E (74-63-74-69=280)	5 strokes	Gordon J. Brand
1993	The Open Championship (2)	1 shot deficit	-13 (66-68-69-64=267)	2 strokes	Nick Faldo

[edit] Results timeline

Norman had 29 top-ten finishes in the majors between 1979 and 1999. In 2005 he qualified to play on the Champions Tour. He may continue to enter some majors as a senior, but is unlikely to contend for further major titles.

Tournament	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	T48
The Open Championship	CUT	T29	T10
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	DNP	4	T36	T30	T25	T47	T2	T2	T5	T3
U.S. Open	DNP	T33	DNP	T50	2	T15	T12	T51	WD	T33
The Open Championship	CUT	T31	T27	T19	T6	T16	1	T35	DNP	T2
PGA Championship	DNP	T4	T5	T42	T39	CUT	2	70	T9	T12

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	CUT	CUT	T6	T31	T18	T3	2	CUT	CUT	3
U.S. Open	T5	WD	DNP	CUT	T6	2	T10	CUT	DNP	CUT
The Open Championship	T6	T9	18	1	T11	T15	T7	T36	DNP	6
PGA Championship	T19	T32	T15	2	T4	T20	T17	T13	DNP	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
The Masters	T11	CUT	T36	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	T59	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	T18	T18	CUT	T60	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	T29	T53	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] PGA Tour wins (20)

• 1984 (2) Kemper Open, Canadian Open
• 1986 (3) Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational, Kemper Open, The Open Championship
• 1988 (1) MCI Heritage Golf Classic
• 1989 (2) The International, Greater Milwaukee Open
• 1990 (2) Doral-Ryder Open, Memorial Tournament
• 1992 (1) Canadian Open
• 1993 (2) Doral-Ryder Open, The Open Championship
• 1994 (1) The PLAYERS Championship
• 1995 (3) Memorial Tournament, Canon Greater Hartford Open, NEC World Series of Golf
• 1996 (1) Doral-Ryder Open
• 1997 (2) FedEx St. Jude Classic, NEC World Series of Golf

Major championships are shown in bold.

[edit] European Tour wins (14)

• 1977 (1) Martini International
• 1979 (1) Martini International
• 1980 (2) Paco Rabanne Open de France, Scandinavian Enterprise Open
• 1981 (2) Martini International, Dunlop Masters
• 1982 (3) Dunlop Masters, State Express English Classic, Benson & Hedges International Open
• 1986 (2) The Open Championship, Panasonic European Open
• 1988 (1) Lancia Italian Open
• 1993 (1) The Open Championship
• 1994 (1) Johnnie Walker Classic

[edit] Wins in Australasia (33)

• 1976 (1) Westlakes Classic
• 1978 (4) New South Wales Open, Traralgon Classic, Caltex Festival of Sydney Open, South Seas Classic
• 1979 (1) Traralgon Classic
• 1980 (1) Australian Open
• 1981 (1) Australian Masters
• 1983 (3) Australian Masters, Stefan Queensland Open, National Panasonic New South Wales Open
• 1984 (3) Victorian Open, Australian Masters, Australian PGA Championship
• 1985 (2) Toshiba Australian PGA Championship, National Panasonic Australian Open
• 1986 (4) Stefan Queensland Open, National Panasonic New South Wales Open, West End Jubilee South Australian Open, National Panasonic Western Australian Open
• 1987 (2) Australian Masters, National Panasonic Australian Open
• 1988 (4) Palm Meadows Cup, ESP Open, PGA National Tournament Players Championship, Panasonic New South Wales Open
• 1989 (2) Australian Masters, PGA National Tournament Players Championship
• 1990 (1) Australian Masters
• 1995 (1) Australian Open
• 1996 (2) Ford South Australian Open, Australian Open
• 1998 (1) Greg Norman Holden International

[edit] Other wins (22)

• 1977 Kuzuhz International (Japan)
• 1979 Hong Kong Open
• 1980 Suntory World Match Play Championship (England - not a European Tour event at that time)
• 1983 Hong Kong Open, Cannes Invitational (France - not a European Tour event), Suntory World Match Play Championship (England - not a European Tour event at that time), Kapalua International (United States)
• 1985 Alfred Dunhill Cup (United Kingdom - team)
• 1986 Suntory World Match Play Championship (England - not a European Tour event at that time), Alfred Dunhill Cup (United Kingdom - team), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (U.S. - unofficial event)
• 1989 Chunichi Crowns (Japan Golf Tour)
• 1993 Taiheyo Masters (Japan Golf Tour), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (U.S. - unofficial event)
• 1994 PGA Grand Slam of Golf (U.S. - unofficial event), Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Paul Azinger and Fred Couples)
• 1995 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Brad Faxon)
• 1996 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Brad Faxon)
• 1997 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Brad Faxon), Andersen Consulting World Championship
• 1998 Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (with Steve Elkington)
• 2001 Skins Game

[edit] See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most European Tour wins
• Sanctuary Lakes

[edit] References

1. ^ Legacy of an Australian idol, The Sun-Herald, 11 July, 2004.
2. ^ Rusty Norman withdraws from Open, BBC Sport, 4 July 2006.
3. ^ "Drinking and Driving". Fortune, November 14, 2005, pages 110–111.
4. ^ http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20503054-949,00.html
5. ^ Greg Norman's 25-year marriage over, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May, 2006.
6. ^ Greg Norman: I Share a 'Bond' With Chris Evert, People Magazine, 9 January, 2007.
7. ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20005923,00.html
8. ^ http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline/features/features/article/0,17742,1575531,00.html
9. ^ http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/megayachts/0304aussierules/
10. ^ http://businesssunday.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=69314
11. ^ http://www.charterworld.com/index.html?sub=yacht-charter&charter=floridian-ex-aussie-rules-996
12. ^ http://www.golftoday.co.uk/news/yeartodate/news99/norman.html
13. ^ http://www.golfdigest.com/majors/masters/index.ssf?/majors/masters/gd200204norman.html

[edit] External links

• Shark.com Greg Norman's official personal and business web site
• Profile on the PGA Tour of Australasia's official site
• Profile on the PGA Tour's website
• Greg Norman at Golf Stars Online Directory of interviews, sites and feature articles with or about Greg Norman
• Greg Norman on About.com Profile and stats
• Greg Norman on MacGregor Golf Norman on MacGregor Golf's Tour Staff

Official World Golf Rankings | World No. 1's in men's golf since 1986.
Severiano Ballesteros | Fred Couples | David Duval | Ernie Els | Nick Faldo | Bernhard Langer | Tom Lehman | Greg Norman | Nick Price | Vijay Singh | Tiger Woods † | Ian Woosnam
† Tiger Woods (USA) is the current World No. 1, and has spent most weeks in that position, currently over 400.