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SOUTHPORT, England—Greg Norman has been too busy to play
much golf lately.
He’s been running his award-winning wine
business, overseeing his apparel company, and most
important, he said, preparing for his marriage last
month to Chris Evert.
Still, the 53-year-old Australian,
nicknamed the “Great White Shark” for his flowing hair
and aggressive play, finds himself with a two-shot lead
over defending champion Padraig Harrington and K.J. Choi
after three rounds of the British Open.
“You feel like you’re stepping back in
time,” Norman said during a press conference yesterday
after his second-consecutive even-par round at windy,
rainy Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England.
“My expectations were almost nil coming in, to tell you
the truth.”
With Tiger Woods absent from a major
golf tournament for the first time since the 1996
Proffessional Golfers’ Association Championship, Norman
quickly took top billing. He was once the best golfer in
the world, holding the No. 1 ranking for 331 weeks from
1986 to 1998. Norman won the British Open in 1986 and
1993.
Yesterday, he and Evert strolled
together to a crowded press conference after his round.
Evert, also 53, the winner of 18 Grand Slam tennis
titles, watched as her third husband took questions.
No
expectations
ASKED if
he was trying to catch up to his bride’s playing record,
Norman rolled his eyes and laughed.
“Ah, Jesus,” he said. “I wish I had her
level of success.”
He said he had no expectations for his
play coming into the tournament. One reporter asked him
if he had made plans for the weekend, figuring that he
would miss the 36-hole cut.
“Boy, I missed you guys,” he said,
drawing even more laughter.
In 2006 Norman introduced a luxury brand
of Australian beef to the US. His wine label, Greg
Norman Estates, sold in cooperation with Southbank,
Australia-based Foster’s Group Ltd., has been his most
successful nongolf venture.
Norman’s 1999 Reserve Shiraz was the
only Australian entry to finish in the top 10 of Wine
Spectator magazine’s top 100 wines of 2004.
His closely held Jupiter, Florida-based
Great White Shark Enterprises Inc. employs about 200
people and generates $300 million in annual sales,
according to Forbes Magazine.
Masters
collapse
ON the
course, Norman has long been one of the sport’s most
flamboyant and tragic figures. His two British Open
victories were his only major titles. In comparison,
Woods has won 14.
He almost won the Masters Tournament
three times: He blew a six-stroke lead in the final
round there in 1996; made a bogey on the final hole in
1986 to lose to Jack Nicklaus; and was defeated there in
1987 when Larry Mize chipped in from 140 feet on the
second playoff hole. He also surrendered final-round
leads at the 1986 US Open and PGA Championship.
Yesterday, he said his marriage to Evert
is helping his game.
“When you’re more relaxed and you’re
happier, then everything else kind of makes it a little
bit easier,” he said. “My life in general is much more
in balance than it has ever been.”
With wind gusts as high as 35 miles per
hour blanketing the 119-year-old Royal Birkdale course
for the first two rounds, Norman’s contemporaries
weren’t surprised to see him near the lead.
“Greg is a great wind player,” said
58-year-old Tom Watson, a five-time British Open winner.
“He can just dominate a golf course in the worst of
conditions.”
Famed
friends
NORMAN’S
lifestyle, with friends ranging from former US President
Bill Clinton to billionaire investor Nelson Peltz and
Reebok founder Paul Fireman, has long been the subject
of news coverage in his native country.
This weekend, he reignited childhood
memories for some fellow Australians.
“Growing up, I used to be one of those
kids that would run down the fairways and try to get the
best view to watch him,” said 37-year-old Aussie Robert
Allenby, who is tied for ninth place at 8-ver-par. “I
think it’s awesome that he’s playing so well.”
He has won 78 tournaments in 13
countries, his most recent in 1997. Yet, if he’s unable
to hang on for a 79th victory on Sunday, Norman said he
won’t be too upset.
“There’s so many other things in life
that I appreciate and enjoy,” he said. |
