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In The Absence Of Tiger Woods, Greg Norman’s Open Performance Gives Golf A Major Boost

Posted by Big G under Latest Golf News, Mens Pro Golf, The Four Majors, The Open Championship

By the time 53 year old Greg Norman had claimed the lead going into today’s final day of the British Open, he had already done wonders for the game of golf.

With the world’s best golfer Tiger Woods missing through injury, Royal Birkdale was crying out for a big story. Big-hitting American John Daly, the big draw and crowd favourite was unable to produce the goods and, as unlikely as it seemed at the start of the event, the Australian veteran and two-time former winner duly obliged.

The Great White Shark, playing his first major championship in three years and first tournament since May, and less than a month after his wedding to former tennis star Chris Evert, the part-time golfer was eyeing a third British Open crown and in a position to become the oldest major winner in history.

Norman is five years older than American Julius Boros who has held that record since winning the 1968 US PGA Championship at the age of 48.

Having started the tournament at odds of 500-1, the Australian admitted his peers were probably saying: “My God, what’s he doing up there?” and were probably waiting for the wheels to come off!

But to date he had an answer for them.

“It’s a reflection of what the game of golf is,” Norman said after shooting a two-over-par 72 in brutal conditions, including wind gusts of up to 50 mile per hour, to take a two-stroke lead from Korean KJ Choi (75) and defending champion Padraig Harrington (72) from Ireland into the final round.

“The game of golf is there to be played and if you go in there with the right attitude and keep yourself physically fit, you can put yourself in that position no matter what.

“If I’m a young kid, looking now and seeing a guy at 53 years old leading the British Open and I’m only 18, I’m going to say: `Boy, I’ve got a lot of years left in my career.’

“I think it’s great.”

Before he teed off on Thursday, Norman was mindful of golf’s need for another talking point besides Woods, who has dominated the past decade and whose injury absence overshadowed the lead-up to the tournament.

“I walked up to Rocco Mediate the other day on the putting green and said: ‘Rocco, the best thing to happen to the game of golf was what you did at the US Open’,” Norman said this week of the 45-year-old who only yielded to Woods after a 19-hole play-off at Torrey Pines last month.

“You’ve got a great player in Tiger Woods but for everybody to see that you can put yourself into position no matter who you are or what you do or what your qualifications are or how old you are, if you truly want it, you can do it.”

Norman also noted five-time Open champion Tom Watson’s first-round performance at Royal Birkdale when the 58-year-old American defied the most difficult conditions to shoot a four-over-par 74 that left him just five off the pace.

“Tom has a bad hip and he gets it around in 74 under tough conditions and beats guys like Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson by four or five shots - that’s great for the game of golf.”

Norman, who won the The Open in 1986 and 1993, has only a 1-6 record of winning when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead in the majors, his only victory coming at Turnberry in 1986.

And despite his vast experience, which helped him handle the brutal weather conditions throughout this year’s Open, Norman felt edgy before his third round.

“I walked to the first tee nervous today,” he said.

“It was a good indicator for me that I was as nervous as I felt.

“I hadn’t felt that way probably for 10 years maybe, maybe even longer, when I walked to the first tee. So I was excited about being there, I wanted to be there.”

Norman said he took some lessons with leading golf instructor David Leadbetter in the lead-up to the British Open.

But, asked if someone had told him he’d be leading the British Open by two strokes after 54 holes, Norman would have said: “Oh really?”

Today is a big ask for The Great White Shark and I feel the weather is going to have a major say as to whether he triumphs or not. If it stays windy, I believe he will win on the proviso he continues to play aggressively with the driver and plays the little knock-down shots. If the wind drops I feel Choi or Harrington will lift the Claret Jug.

One thing is for sure, Greg Norman’s performance has stirred up massive interest in this year’s event and given The Open a major boost in the absence of Tiger Woods - here’s hoping some exciting stuff is served and may the best man win!

The Ed, GolfbloggerUK

ROYAL BIRKDALE GOLF CLUB, Southport - THIRD ROUND SCOREBOARD - Par 70
212 Greg Norman (Australia) 70 70 72
214 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 74 68 72, K J Choi (South Korea) 72 67 75..
215 Simon Wakefield (England) 71 74 70
217 Anthony Kim (US) 72 74 71, Ross Fisher (England) 72 74 71, Ben Curtis (US) 78 69 70, Alexander Noren (Sweden) 72 70 75.
218 Chris Wood (England) (amateur) 75 70 73, Ian Poulter (England) 72 71 75, Graeme Storm (England) 76 70 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 76 72 70, Rocco Mediate (US) 69 73 76, Robert Allenby (Australia) 69 73 76.
219 Steve Stricker (US) 77 71 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 72 73 74, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 75 73, Davis Love III (US) 75 74 70, Jim Furyk (US) 71 71 77.
220 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 75 72 73, Justin Leonard (US) 77 70 73, Anders Hansen (Den) 78 68 74, Tom Lehman (US) 74 73 73, Todd Hamilton (US) 74 74 72, Simon Khan 77 72 71, C Villegas (Colombia) 76 65 78.
221 Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 72 78, Adam Scott (Aus) 70 74 77, Zach Johnson (US) 73 72 76, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 74 74 73, Soren Hansen (Den) 75 69 77, Mike Weir (Can) 71 76 74, David Frost (Rsa) 75 73 73, Stephen Ames (Can) 73 70 78
222 Jeff Overton (US) 72 75 75, Bart Bryant (US) 70 78 74, Colin Montgomerie 73 75 74, Woody Austin (US) 76 72 74, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 75 74 73, Paul Casey 78 71 73, Thomas Sherreard (England) (amateur) 77 69 76, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 71 72 79, Jay Williamson (US) 73 72 77, Scott Verplank (USA) 77 67 78, Douglas Labelle (USA) 78 70 74, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 72 71 79
223 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 75 74 74, Paul Waring 73 74 76, Andres Romero (Arg) 77 72 74, Nick O’Hern (Aus) 74 75 74, Heath Slocum (US) 73 76 74, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 75 73 75, Phil Mickelson (USA) 79 68 76, Ernie Els (Rsa) 80 69 74, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 74 74 75, Dave Horsey 74 70 79, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 75 77
224 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 73 76 75, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 73 71 80, Craig Parry (Aus) 77 70 77, Richard Green (Aus) 76 72 76, Jonathan Lomas 75 73 76
225 David Howell 76 71 78, Nick Dougherty 75 71 79, David Duval (US) 73 69 83, Anthony Wall 71 73 81, John Rollins (USA) 73 75 77, Kevin Stadler (US) 72 75 78, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 77 71 77, Ariel Canete (Arg) 78 71 76, Tom Gillis (US) 74 72 79
226 Richard Finch 75 73 78, Lucas Glover (US) 78 71 77, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 75 72 79
227 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 75 74 78, Phillip Archer 75 74 78, Lee Westwood 75 74 78
228 Justin Rose 74 72 82, Sean O’Hair (US) 75 73 80, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 75 71 82
230 Brendan Jones (Aus) 74 73 83, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 72 75 83