Greg Norman says his purchase
of a luxury motor yacht worth almost $50 million is not a sign that his golfing
career is winding down.
Norman, who flew into Perth yesterday to announce his purchase of the custom-built
64.65m boat from Australian shipbuilder Oceanfast, said his latest acquisition,
which is expected to be finished in 2002 and will be called Aussie Rules, wasn't
going to keep him off the golf course.
Although Norman already
controls a burgeoning business empire, Great White Shark Enterprises, that employs
over 100 people and plans to use his new state-of-the-art cruiser to visit exotic
locations such as the Amazon and the Antarctic with his wife and two children,
he said tournament golf would continue to play a very important part in his life.
The former world No. 1
and winner of 74 tournaments, Norman is happy with the way his game has been
developing in recent months, as he continues along the comeback trail following
major shoulder surgery almost two years ago.
Having warned in January
that he would give the game away if he wasn't satisfied with his performances
over the next 12 months, Norman yesterday declared he was making good progress
and dismissed thoughts of retirement.
Norman said he had settled
on a steady annual schedule of 15 to 18 tournaments in the US, Australia and
Europe.
"My game has been very
solid," he said. "Every time I've played, I've felt like I've played three very
good rounds and one so-so round.
"Ball-striking wise, I
feel like I'm hitting the ball better than I have since the surgery.
"It is a process that takes
time, but I'm very happy with the way things are going."
Norman's last tournament
victory came in the World Series of Golf in 1997, when a final-round 67 earned
him a four-stroke win.
In April 1998, he had surgery
on his right shoulder.
Seven months of rehabilitation
followed and although he teamed with Steve Elkington to win the Shark Shootout
and was a member of the victorious President's Cup team, he hasn't yet been able
to sustain the form that took him to the top.
"I was playing the other
day and I got very upset with myself because I wasn't getting results out of
my game," he said. "I walked off ropeable and my caddy, Tony Navarro, said .
. . that my reaction told him that I was on the way back, that the internal fire
was still there."
