Greg Norman

Greg Norman (born February 10, 1955 in Queensland, Australia), is an Australian professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as the world's number one ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s. He is nicknamed "The Shark".

Career outline

Norman began his career as a trainee in the Royal Queensland golf shop, earning AUD 38 a week. The first professional tournament he won was the 1976 West Lakes Classic in his home country, and he soon moved on to success on the European Tour and later the PGA Tour.

Related Topics:
AUD - European Tour - PGA Tour

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Norman won The Open Championship twice, in 1986 and 1993. Despite "The Great White Shark"'s (a reference to a shark inhabiting Australian waters as well as Norman's size and blond locks) huge success on the US PGA TOUR and many wins in other events around the world, Norman will be forever regarded as underachieving given his talents by missing out in The Masters, US Open, and PGA Championship. He was equally a victim of his own bad luck, good luck on the part of his fellow golfers (losing a near-certain PGA Championship win in 1986 after Bob Tway holed a bunker shot, and losing The Masters the following year in a playoff by an even more miraculous 45-yard chip shot from Larry Mize), and a couple of infamous "chokes" where Norman's wobble-prone putting got the better of him. To underscore this point, in 1986, he led all four majors after the third round, but only won The Open. Norman's most infamous "choke" may be the 1996 version of The Masters, where he blew a six-stroke lead in the final round and lost the tournament to Nick Faldo by five strokes. He has twenty nine top ten finishes in majors.

Related Topics:
The Open Championship - PGA TOUR - The Masters - US Open - PGA Championship - Bob Tway - Larry Mize - 1996 - The Masters - Nick Faldo

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After Jack Nicklaus, Norman was regarded as one of the game's greatest ever long hitters. In his heyday, driving off the tee, usually incredibly straight, he intimidated most of his fellow professionals. This was all with a persimmon (wood) head on the driver. With the advent of the "metal wood" by Taylor Made and subsequently the great advances in golf club technology especally the variable face depth driver, his dominance became much diminished. This was beacause the "new technology" enabled less precise ball striking with equal or even better results in accuracy and distance. Subsequent advances in golf ball technology, enabling the ball to be hit further and stopped faster than ever before has only served to even out the abilities of players. Both the Royal and Ancient and the greatest golfer of all time, Jack Nicklaus, have argued against the advances in technology, saying that it make classic courses obsolete and even out the competitiion too much. The greatest case for and against this has been Tiger Woods, whose achievments have ridiculed the great courses of the past, but placed him well ahead of the rest of the professional golfers in the world.

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Norman's friendly image and articulate nature has made him a perfect spokesman for a wide range of products, including the usual array of golf equipment but extending well beyond. Whilst continuing to play tournaments, his growing business interests take up an increasing amount of his time. His personal wealth is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of US dollars.

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Norman's hobbies include offshore game fishing—he has owned a succession of increasingly large and luxurious boats (though his latest may best be described as a small ship) for the purpose. Based in Hobe Sound, Florida, he typically plays only one or two tournaments per year in his homeland.

Related Topics:
Game fishing - Florida

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He married his American (?) wife Laura in 1981 and has two children.

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In 1986 Norman was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award, a feat he replicated in 1993 to join Muhammad Ali and Björn Borg as multiple winners.

Related Topics:
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality - Muhammad Ali - Björn Borg

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