Golf Monthly UK – August 2019

He has never let the somewhat

undesirable title of the ‘Saturday
Slam’ weigh him down. The

Saturday Slam refers to the fact

Norman held the 54-hole lead in all
four Majors of 1986 (converting just

the one at The Open). The feat has

not been repeated since.

Norman has always looked on the
bright side in defeat, even if it takes

him days, weeks or months to see it.

He prefers to focus on 1986 for his
11 worldwide victories, including

four wins in Australia, two regular

PGA Tour events and his first Major
title at Turnberry.

Norman is now a globetrotting

businessman who in 2017 was

ranked 12th on Forbes’ Highest-Paid
Athletes Of All Time list. Forbes

listed Norman as having earned

$680 million, while Michael Jordan
was No.1 with $1.7 billion.

Norman’s enterprise has over a

dozen companies around the world

bearing his name and the iconic
shark logo as part of the Greg

Norman Company. Norman is

chairman and CEO of the operation,
which is spearheaded by a course

design business that has created

more than 100 golf course designs
across six continents. There is also a

global real estate collection, award-

winning wine, golf-inspired lifestyle
apparel and an investment division.

Norman also remains a keen

commentator on the state of golf.

He recently sat down with Golf

Monthly to talk about some of the

game’s most pressing issues...

Do you miss practising,

grinding and getting better?

No, I don’t miss practising. I enjoy

playing (occasionally), like when I

played the Seminole Pro-Member

back in February. I enjoyed the Pro

Am in London. I enjoy playing, but I

don’t enjoy practising.

What do you miss most about

playing the game? I would say

the competitive spirit. The battle.

You know, going toe-to-toe with

great players. Playing some of the

toughest courses in the world.

Who was the competitor you

loved coming up against

most? Oh, I would say Seve

Ballesteros. He was such a tough

competitor. Actually, I’ll say Seve and

Curtis Strange were the toughest

competitors I played against. With

Seve, you never knew what you were

going to get. You’d watch him play a

round of golf and you’d think he shot

75 – but he’d shot 67. He was all

over the place. He’d chip in at least

once or twice during a round. He’d

get up and down from everywhere.

He’d never hit a fairway. But at the

end of the round he’d beat you by a

shot and you’d say, “How the hell did

that happen?” [laughs].

With Curtis, he was such a tough

competitor. He’d cut your heart out

on the first tee and then give it back

to you on the 18th green. He didn’t

just want to win; he wanted to own

the competition. You knew when

you were going up against Curtis in

a final round, especially in the final

group, it was going to be a battle

from start to finish. And you’d better

be prepared.

How do you get those

competitive fixes now?

Business, mainly. In terms of sports,

yes I do play a lot of tennis. I’m

trying to build courses and grow the

game in far corners of the world.

That’s what I love to do. You can’t

believe how inspiring it is to be at

the forefront of that type of

development, especially in countries

like Vietnam, which is a communist

country. To see what’s possible in

countries like Cuba is also

fascinating to me. Eventually, the

diplomacy of sport wins out on

everything else, I truly believe.

You’ve designed courses in

countries such as your native

Australia and your adopted

home of the US, but what’s the

satisfaction level of

Norman by the numbers

86

Professional

victories

20

PGA Tour

titles

14

European

Tour wins

2

Major

wins

8

Major runner-up

finishes

30

Major

top tens

2001

Year inducted into the World

Golf Hall of Fame

Spyglass Hill:

better than

Pebble Beach?

Australia continues to

produce fine golfers