Until this summer, Greg Norman, aka "The Shark," looked to be going down in the books as a talented and charismatic but ultimately tragic figure. Who could forget his glazed expression as he trudged off the 18th green at Augusta in 1996 following one of the most dramatic final-round collapses in the history of golf? Or the two chip-ins, by Bob Tway at the 1986 PGA Championship and Larry Mize at the 1987 Masters, that cost him successive majors?
But Norman's heroic third-place finish at this year's British Open has changed all that. There he was, on the rain-lashed links of Royal Birkdale, his famous blond mane bobbing in the gale, leading the tournament for 63 holes. In the end, the 53-year-old Australian succumbed to the 40 mph winds and to the excellent play of back-to-back champion Padraig Harrington, but by then he had won back what he always treasured most: respect.
If Norman's resurgence was shocking — over the past decade, he has played less and less professional golf — it didn't come as a complete surprise to the Shark. Norman retains the leonine physique and intimidating demeanor that made him, pre–, the world's most feared golfer. A couple of weeks before he left for England, he was practicing hard and following his arduous workout regimen. Thanks to advances in golf technology, he said, he was striking the ball farther now than he did in the 1980s and '90s, when he was the world's longest hitter. "My game's not as sharp as it was, and my expectations are not as high," he went on. "But I still like to go at it, and I think that, in certain conditions, I can still win."
If Norman bears scars from his famous losses, he doesn't show them, and why should he? Over the course of his career, he cinched 91 tournaments, including two majors — the 1986 and 1993 British Opens — and spent 331 weeks as the world's No. 1, a record only Woods has surpassed. In his semi-retirement, he's become a successful entrepreneur (estimated to be worth several hundred million dollars) with a new wife — the tennis legend Chris Evert — and a mature man's appreciation for the vicissitudes of human existence. "My life has shifted," he says. "But I can honestly say I've never been happier, more secure, more content. That includes my personal life, my business life, and my golf."
Despite the atrocious conditions at Royal Birkdale, Evert followed Norman every step of the way. The pair were married in June, following Norman's costly divorce from his ex, Laura Andrassy, the mother of his two grown-up children. From the beginning of their relationship, Evert encouraged him to compete more often. "Chrissie loves to see me play," Norman said. "She even comes to see me practice. She's an athlete. She knows what it takes." At their home in Florida, the two also play tennis, which he took up a year ago. He can now keep up a decent rally, and Evert recently joked that his physical skills were wasted on golf. "The more I play tennis, the more I agree with her," he said. "I'm naturally very aggressive. Playing golf, I always had to check myself — don't shoot at the flag, play safe. In tennis, you can really go for your shots."
