DAILY NOTES - July 19, 2008
- Royal Birkdale, Day Two: It’s sort of hard not to sympathize with Camilo Villegas – not that he’s in need of much sympathy sitting one shot off the lead at the halfway mark of his first Open Championship. But what Villegas did on Friday was really quite special, for after opening with a six-over-par 76, and bogeying the first two holes of his second round, the 26-year-old Colombian proceeded to birdie the 4th, 5th and 9th to right the ship, then, after a bogey at the 13th, rather improbably birdied the final five holes to card a five-under-par 65, by two shots the best round of the tournament. It was really rather epic stuff, and yet it’s place in history was surely minimized by the otherworldly performance of 53-year-old Greg Norman, who seemed able, quite literally, to turn back the clock about two decades in carding his second consecutive even-par 70…and actually leading the Open Championship until K.J. Choi nosed ahead with two twilight birdies. Now, for fans in the coveted 18-34 demographic (all seven of them – sorry Mr. Commissioner), this may seem a pleasant, nostalgic fluke – sort of new millennium version of Gene Sarazen acing the Postage Stamp at Troon in 1973, at age 71. But for those of us who actually saw golf in the 1980s, this really was like a time warp, watching the man who dominated the game like few others (in terms of both numbers and image) rise from the ashes of indifference/divorce/semi-retirement to charge across Royal Birkdale’s fairways as in days of old. Seeing one of today’s battle-hardened Champions Tour stars – say Jay Haas or Bernhard Langer – do this would be surprising enough, but Norman, a man who willingly admits he practices tennis (the joys of matrimony…) more than golf these days? Simply amazing. Of nearly comparable shock value, however, was the performance of the late, great David Duval, winner of this title in 2001 and largely a rent-paying tenant of golfing oblivion ever since. Coming off a solid opening-round 73, Duval rode three back-nine birdies to a surprising 69 on Friday, leaving him rather stunningly tied for 4th at two-over par 142. Meanwhile, beyond these romantic shots in the dark (and Choi and Villegas) linger a number of serious contenders. First-round tri-leaders Graeme McDowell, Rocco Mediate and Robert Allenby all managed Friday 73s to join Duval at +2, a crowded position also occupied by defending champion Padraig Harrington (who shot a fine 68), Jim Furyk and little-known Alexander Noren of Sweden. The group at +3 includes Stephen Ames, Peter Hanson, Fredrik Jacobson, Stuart Appleby and Ian Poulter, the latter still being mocked for his winter prediction that he’d win the U.S. Open, but faring very nicely at Birkdale. Among other significant contenders still lurking, Adam Scott carded a slightly disappointing 74 to stand at +4, steady Scott Verplank rang up a splendid 67 to reach the same position, and pre-tournament favorite Sergio Garcia added a 73 to his opening 72, to stand on +5, six off the lead. Among the world elite, Phil Mickelson recovered from a rough opening 79 with a 68 that brought him back to +7, while Ernie Els actually carded six birdies during his Friday 69 – which, combined with a disastrous 80 on Thursday, just barely survived to see the weekend. And finally… It is the R&A policy which exempts past Open champions until age 60 which allowed the excitement of Greg Norman’s performance, or the opportunity for galleries to watch five-time winner Tom Watson narrowly miss the cut with competitive rounds of 74-76. But this policy also gave us the spectacle of America’s guest, John Daly, sporting sunglasses amidst the overcast (I wonder why…) en route to a spectacular Friday 89 that included eight bogeys, three double-bogeys and a mind-numbing nine at the par-four 13th. Combine this with a stellar opening-round 80 and the Human Sponsor Exemption easily wrapped up last place with a solid 169 aggregate, prompting me to recall the words of my collegiate economics professor who suggested, “If this represents an honest effort, perhaps you should consider taking a different class…”
- And For That Coveted 18-34 Demographic…: For those too young to have witnessed the Great White Shark in his 74-worldwide-wins, take-the-golf-course-by-its-throat heyday, here is a bit of functional nostalgia, courtesy of The Book of Golfers. Scoff if you wish, but we’ve got no space limitations here – and even if he fades over the weekend, Norman’s 36-hole performance is more than deserving of the accolades…
- And For That Coveted 18-34 Demographic…: For those too young to have witnessed the Great White Shark in his 74-worldwide-wins, take-the-golf-course-by-its-throat heyday, here is a bit of functional nostalgia, courtesy of The Book of Golfers. Scoff if you wish, but we’ve got no space limitations here – and even if he fades over the weekend, Norman’s 36-hole performance is more than deserving of the accolades…
GREG NORMAN (Australia/USA)
Among the most striking and exciting golfers ever to play the game, Queensland’s Gregory John Norman (b.Mt Isa 2/10/1955) may not rank as highly as Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros or Nick Faldo on most all-time lists, yet he was arguably golf’s most captivating figure between the reigns of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. A typically sports-oriented Australian youth, Norman only took up golf after caddying for his low-handicap mother at age 16, then worked his way down to scratch within two years. Pondering a career in the Australian air force, Norman instead turned professional after winning the Queensland Junior title, working briefly in Sydney, then for a longer stint at the Royal Queensland GC where he apprenticed for the man who would be his primary teacher, the well-known Charlie Earp.
By 1976 Norman was ready to compete around Australia – so ready, in fact, that he won his fourth start, Adelaide’s West Lakes Classic, over a strong professional field. Like many an ambitious Aussie before him, Norman spent the next three years playing largely abroad, taking five titles in Europe and Asia as well as four more in his homeland. By 1979 he was beginning to approach the game’s highest levels when a missed putt of 4’ at the 72nd cost him the Australian Open. But with a work ethic to match his raw talent, Norman continued his steady improvement and took the national title for the first time the following year, by one over Brian Jones at The Lakes GC in Sydney. The victory led to an invitation to the Masters and it was at Augusta in 1981 that America got its first look at a player whose attacking style, charisma and white-blond hair made for ideal golf television. Norman would finish fourth in this Masters debut, entertaining the media with tales of shark hunting which, inevitably, spawned his famous “Great White Shark” nickname. Three months later he added joint fourth at the PGA Championship in Atlanta, and a new international star was born.
Generally considered the longest straight driver in history, Norman soon began playing regularly in America where his aggressiveness and larger-than-life personality ticketed him as the logical heir apparent to Palmer, Nicklaus and Watson. Frequently he seemed capable of living up to the hype, such as the summer of 1984 when, within a five-week span, he won twice (at the Kemper and Canadian Opens), lost to Tom Watson in a playoff for the Western Open, then endured an 18-hole playoff loss to Fuzzy Zoeller in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. This, of course, was one of the modern era’s most memorable Opens with Norman blowing his approach to the 72nd into a grandstand before ultimately holing a 50’ putt for par. Back in the fairway, thinking that Norman had made birdie, Zoeller waved the white towel of surrender – but on Monday it would be Norman who yielded when Fuzzy took the playoff with a sparking 67.
The loss at Winged Foot led to some talk – at that time largely misplaced – of Norman as a choker, and his unique “Saturday Slam” of 1986 hardly helped. For in that remarkable season, Norman indeed led all four Majors after 54 holes, yet won only the Open Championship, his most crushing defeat coming at the PGA where Bob Tway holed a famous bunker shot at 72nd for victory. Such a loss can only happen once a lifetime, one might assume, but at the 1987 Masters Norman endured another notorious lightning bolt when Larry Mize drained a 45-yard pitch to snatch victory on the second hole of sudden death. Three years later David Frost would hole a bunker shot at the last to edge Norman in New Orleans, and then, barely a month later, Robert Gamez would beat him at Bay Hill by actually holing a full 176-yard 7 iron at the last!
The gods, then, were not always with him, but Norman often generated his own misery, including a badly blocked 4 iron at the 72nd which cost him a playoff with Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters, a disappointing 76 in a much-anticipated third-round duel with Nick Faldo at the 1990 Open Championship and the saddest of them all, the final-round 78 that eviscerated a seemingly insurmountable six-shot lead, allowing Faldo to win the 1996 Masters with a closing 67.
But if Norman is to be vilified for these losses, he must also be credited with some of modern golf’s greatest work. In 1990, for example, he closed the Doral Open with a scorching 62, then won in a playoff by eagling the first extra hole – a 12-under-par total for 19 holes. Even more impressive, however, were rounds played during his two Major titles, the 1986 and ’93 Open Championships. In 1986, after opening with a weather-induced 74, Norman uncorked an almost unbelievable second-round 63 in dismal conditions, a round which stood only three putts at both the 17th and 18th away from perhaps being the greatest ever played. Then in 1993, he stormed home at Royal St George’s with a near-perfect closing 64 to beat Nick Faldo by two, a round described by Gene Sarazen as “the most awesome display of golf I have ever seen.”
A fitness devotee, Norman retained his world-class skills well into his 40s, winning twice in 1997 at age 42, then taking his own homeland event, the Greg Norman Holden Invitational, a year later. Today he rides herd over Great White Shark Enterprises, a highly successful international business conglomerate, while receding slowly from the competitive scene. But whatever critics may say regarding his career, two Open Championships, more than 80 wins worldwide, 29 top-10 finishes in Major championships and a record 331 total weeks ranked as the number one player in the world adds up to a large and impressive legacy, particularly when judged against the field as opposed to a generalized sense of expectations. Further, no player between Nicklaus and Woods has loomed larger over the game, or brought more excitement – and epic struggle – to its playing fields.
By 1976 Norman was ready to compete around Australia – so ready, in fact, that he won his fourth start, Adelaide’s West Lakes Classic, over a strong professional field. Like many an ambitious Aussie before him, Norman spent the next three years playing largely abroad, taking five titles in Europe and Asia as well as four more in his homeland. By 1979 he was beginning to approach the game’s highest levels when a missed putt of 4’ at the 72nd cost him the Australian Open. But with a work ethic to match his raw talent, Norman continued his steady improvement and took the national title for the first time the following year, by one over Brian Jones at The Lakes GC in Sydney. The victory led to an invitation to the Masters and it was at Augusta in 1981 that America got its first look at a player whose attacking style, charisma and white-blond hair made for ideal golf television. Norman would finish fourth in this Masters debut, entertaining the media with tales of shark hunting which, inevitably, spawned his famous “Great White Shark” nickname. Three months later he added joint fourth at the PGA Championship in Atlanta, and a new international star was born.
Generally considered the longest straight driver in history, Norman soon began playing regularly in America where his aggressiveness and larger-than-life personality ticketed him as the logical heir apparent to Palmer, Nicklaus and Watson. Frequently he seemed capable of living up to the hype, such as the summer of 1984 when, within a five-week span, he won twice (at the Kemper and Canadian Opens), lost to Tom Watson in a playoff for the Western Open, then endured an 18-hole playoff loss to Fuzzy Zoeller in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. This, of course, was one of the modern era’s most memorable Opens with Norman blowing his approach to the 72nd into a grandstand before ultimately holing a 50’ putt for par. Back in the fairway, thinking that Norman had made birdie, Zoeller waved the white towel of surrender – but on Monday it would be Norman who yielded when Fuzzy took the playoff with a sparking 67.
The loss at Winged Foot led to some talk – at that time largely misplaced – of Norman as a choker, and his unique “Saturday Slam” of 1986 hardly helped. For in that remarkable season, Norman indeed led all four Majors after 54 holes, yet won only the Open Championship, his most crushing defeat coming at the PGA where Bob Tway holed a famous bunker shot at 72nd for victory. Such a loss can only happen once a lifetime, one might assume, but at the 1987 Masters Norman endured another notorious lightning bolt when Larry Mize drained a 45-yard pitch to snatch victory on the second hole of sudden death. Three years later David Frost would hole a bunker shot at the last to edge Norman in New Orleans, and then, barely a month later, Robert Gamez would beat him at Bay Hill by actually holing a full 176-yard 7 iron at the last!
The gods, then, were not always with him, but Norman often generated his own misery, including a badly blocked 4 iron at the 72nd which cost him a playoff with Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters, a disappointing 76 in a much-anticipated third-round duel with Nick Faldo at the 1990 Open Championship and the saddest of them all, the final-round 78 that eviscerated a seemingly insurmountable six-shot lead, allowing Faldo to win the 1996 Masters with a closing 67.
But if Norman is to be vilified for these losses, he must also be credited with some of modern golf’s greatest work. In 1990, for example, he closed the Doral Open with a scorching 62, then won in a playoff by eagling the first extra hole – a 12-under-par total for 19 holes. Even more impressive, however, were rounds played during his two Major titles, the 1986 and ’93 Open Championships. In 1986, after opening with a weather-induced 74, Norman uncorked an almost unbelievable second-round 63 in dismal conditions, a round which stood only three putts at both the 17th and 18th away from perhaps being the greatest ever played. Then in 1993, he stormed home at Royal St George’s with a near-perfect closing 64 to beat Nick Faldo by two, a round described by Gene Sarazen as “the most awesome display of golf I have ever seen.”
A fitness devotee, Norman retained his world-class skills well into his 40s, winning twice in 1997 at age 42, then taking his own homeland event, the Greg Norman Holden Invitational, a year later. Today he rides herd over Great White Shark Enterprises, a highly successful international business conglomerate, while receding slowly from the competitive scene. But whatever critics may say regarding his career, two Open Championships, more than 80 wins worldwide, 29 top-10 finishes in Major championships and a record 331 total weeks ranked as the number one player in the world adds up to a large and impressive legacy, particularly when judged against the field as opposed to a generalized sense of expectations. Further, no player between Nicklaus and Woods has loomed larger over the game, or brought more excitement – and epic struggle – to its playing fields.
Daniel
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