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Greg Norman

Still Hugely Successful



Despite his legendary near misses, Norman can boast of 20 PGA Tour victories, including his two British Opens, and 66 international titles. He played a lighter schedule in 2002, competing in only 13 Tour events, making the cut 10 times and withdrawing once. A year earlier, he won $1 million at the 2001 Skins Game, shutting out Tiger Woods, Colin Montgomerie and Jesper Parnevik. And, in 2000, despite playing less because of medical reasons (his right hip has bothered him for several years), he was 84th on the money list. His last victories were the St. Jude Classic and the World Series of Golf, both in 1997. He was third in the Masters in 1999.



Norman, in a recent interview with the The Golf Channel, echoed the concern of many PGA Tour players as professional golf tournaments, just coming off a growth cycle, scramble for sponsors amid a sluggish economy. "I see the bubble growing at such an exponential rate—about 10 to 13 percent a year since 1999—that it's going to burst. Everything else is on the drop, but we're on the up, so when you have this disparity going on, it doesn't take too long before you get sailing close to the edge."

Norman, also a highly successful businessman, is chairman of Great White Shark Enterprises, a multi-national corporation whose ventures range from golf course design to clothing and yachts. "The shark logo-a multicolored image of a shark—and the Norman name are among the most potent business symbols in the world," Adam Schupak wrote on the PGA.com Web site. He is also an active course architect and has a strain of turfgrass named after him.

Chronology

1955 Born in Mt. Isa, Queensland, Australia
1976 Turned professional
1984 Ties U.S. Open on 40-foot putt but loses 18-hole playoff to Fuzzy Zoeller
1986 Leads all four major tournaments entering final round but wins only British Open
1987 Larry Mize miracle chip shot in playoff proves decisive as Norman drops Masters by one stroke
1993 Leads all four majors entering final day but wins only British Open
1996 Blows six-hole lead on final day of The Masters; Nick Faldo wins tournament.
2002 Competes in only 13 PGA Tour events; announces late in year that he will rejoin PGA Tour in 2003.

The Normans, who married in 1981 and live in Hove Sound, Florida, have two children, Morgan-Leigh and Gregory. He and his wife, Laura, are active in many charities and have received the Hands of Hope Award from the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. Norman's hobbies include hunting, fishing and scuba diving.

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Famous Sports StarsGolfGreg Norman Biography - Two British Titles, Many Failures, Agony At Augusta, Still Hugely Successful, Chronology, Selected Writings By Norman: