1996 GREG NORMAN’S MASTERS DOWNFALL
on 9 and 10. On 11, he hit two perfect shots to about 10 feet but lipped out the birdie and then missed the comebacker. The final blows were shots in the water on 12 and 16. I was walking with Greg’s wife and daughter, and when things turned bad, it was hard to bear some of the comments in the crowd. When he pulled it badly into the water on 16, I suggested they walk in. There wasn’t anything more to see. After the round, Greg’s caddie, Tony Navarro, and I waited for him in the locker room. I honestly didn’t know what to ex- pect. Greg is very disciplined but also very intense. I’ll admit I was anticipating some things getting thrown around. But he walked in, looked at us and said, “I guess we just didn’t have it today, boys. We’ll get ’em next year.” In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been surprised about how well he took it. Greg always had perspective. He kept his hand in various businesses, from equipment and apparel to things like wine, so it was never just the golf for him. He didn’t get it done that day, but you can’t break Greg Norman.
include this as one of my unforgettable Sun- days because if you were there, it left a mark on you. A six-stroke lead over Nick Faldo go- ing into the final round dwindled to three at the turn, then it all went sideways. Greg shooting 78 after three under-par rounds, in- cluding a record 63 on Thursday, still seems crazy. But that’s why they play four rounds. The simplest way I can put it is, when Greg showed up Sun- day morning, he was not the same player who left Saturday night. He seemed uptight and agitated. We went to the range, and he said his swing didn’t feel right. I assured him there was nothing wrong with his mechanics; he was just quick from the top. We worked on getting him to finish his back- swing, not rush the club down, but he just felt out of sorts. Greg’s troubles really started in the middle of the round, when he hooked a 3-wood on No 8 and was lucky to make par, followed by missing the green and not getting up and down I
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 79
MARCH/APRIL 2025
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