Greg Norman says he has a new lease on life. It might also be his last one.
Five weeks and one day after surgery to repair a torn labrum in
his right hip, Norman returns to competition Thursday in The
International, one of 75 tournaments he has won around the world in
a career that covers 25 years.
The goal was for the Shark to recover in time for the PGA
Championship. He is two weeks ahead of schedule, which is just as
well.
"Time is not on my side,'' he said on the day before surgery.
Forgive Norman if he is in a hurry.
He turned 45 in February, an age when most players start looking
ahead to the Senior Tour or the broadcast booth. Neither interests
Norman. He already is busy designing courses, bottling wine,
inventing turf grass, marketing clothes, distributing golf clubs
and posting video of his hip surgery on Shark.com.
And after rehabilitation at warp speed, he once again has carved
out time to pound balls on the range.
So much to do, so little time.
In April, before he realized his right hip was the root of his
discomfort, Norman figured he had a fighting chance in the next
eight majors. Now, he is talking about going hard for the next 10
years -- even taking on Tiger Woods.
"I'd love to be part of that rivalry,'' he said. "I know
there's a huge gap in age, but there was a 15-year age difference
between me and Jack Nicklaus when I joined the tour, and we
competed.''
Indeed they did. In their last encounter, a 46-year-old Nicklaus
shot a 30 on the back nine, overcame a four-stroke deficit against
Norman, and won his sixth Masters. So, whatever misery Norman
endured from that 1986 loss might actually become motivation.
It can be done.
Hale Irwin won the U.S. Open when he was 45. Julius Boros became
the oldest player to win a major, the '68 PGA Championship, when he
was 48. And in an era long before ab crunches were all the rage,
Old Tom Morris won the British Open at 46.
If Norman really has the body of a 20-year-old (his doctor said
that), there should be no reason why he can't compete with Woods,
contend in majors, be fit enough to hoist a trophy.
He is not that old that he has forgotten what it is like to
launch drives 300 yards or more. He still remembers the days when
he stood on the first tee and wondered who was going to finish
second. Woods is 21 years younger and has twice as many majors, but
Norman sees some similarities.
"I know when you play at that level, intimidation is a
wonderful, silent tool to use,'' he said. "I've had it. When I'm
up against it, it won't be a factor.''
Greg Norman at the 2000 US Open, his last outing before surgery. Allsport
Now if he can only remember how to win.
Norman has to count back three years to locate his last PGA Tour
victory -- the World Series of Golf at Firestone. His last win anywhere was the Holden International in Australia on Feb. 8, 1998.
Since then, he been in operating rooms almost as often as he's
been in contention.
First came shoulder surgery after the '98 Masters, followed by
seven months of rehab and questions about whether he still had the
desire. Norman answered that when he nearly won the '99 Masters.
This June, after a humbling 82 in the second round of the U.S.
Open at Pebble Beach, Norman discovered a torn labrum in his right
hip, which probably caused his shoulder problems in the first
place.
"Once the surgery is done, it's 100 percent repaired,'' he
said. "It's a new lease on life. This is going to make me more
excited to go back and play.''
With a rebuilt shoulder and a repaired hip, Norman finally has a
clean bill of health. What he no longer has are excuses.
Norman doesn't need the money, just the hardware.
At stake is his place in history, although his losses always
seem to outweigh his gains. Not many have played at such a high
level for such a long time.
From 1976 to 1998, Norman won at least one tournament every year
but 1991. He has led the money list on both sides of the Atlantic,
had the best scoring average on the PGA Tour five times and has
wielded such influence that the game now has a lucrative World Golf
Championship series.
Still, he might better be remembered for winning the "Saturday
Slam'' in 1986, the year he led all four majors after the third
round and walked off with only a silver claret jug. He is one of only
two men -- Craig Wood in the 1930s is the other -- to lose all four majors in a playoff.
Norman needs another major to validate him as one of the best.
Any victory at this stage in his career would certify him as one of
the greatest competitors.
It all starts this week with "The Return of the Shark: The
Final Episode.''
