Greg Norman 2006 Australian Open

[murraypaulnudedotcom]

did kulacz pump it by him?

[tonyiommirox]

omg, i went to this on the thursday morning to watch greg play and it rained so much it was hardly fair to the players who started early since the afternoon was almost perfect weather conditions

[betterthanayard]

Don't you own any video editing software?? I was so sick of waiting for him to hit the ball that I forgot to watch the swing!!!

[finnishredder]

You could learn something from Greg's routines before his actual swing. Do you see how he does a practise swing then proceeds to the ball and apparently sets the ball on the tee again because his waggle drops it from the tee (or something like that). Then he places the ball again on the tee, steps back to (instead of whacking it straight away), focus for a few seconds on what kind of a shot he is going to perform and then off goes the swing with a few waggles. Golf ain't just hitting the ball.

[timlin0607]

Greg Norman is perhaps the most talented golfer of all time, IMO. I believe he started playing golf at 16 or 17 and turned professional after only 2 years. That's what you call talent. So what if he choked a few times. He was in the position to win many majors and just didn't perform well on the last day. Big deal.

[ElliottsFather]

Reply to emncaity

Would you now care to explain why Norman lost the 1996 Masters? Why he lost the playoff for the 1989 British Open? Since you're such an expert on "tournament golf", maybe you can all enlighten us with your explanation. Or was it more bad luck?

[emncaity]

Even asking the question ("Why would Player X lose a three-way playoff with two other players from a pool of the best players in the world, playing at the absolute top of their games that week?") indicates that you wouldn't understand the truth of the right answer.

The summary version is, you presume far too much control on the part of even a great player--just as idiot announcers do every week with Tiger and other players.

[ElliottsFather]

It's pointless arguing with you, mate. Good luck trying to make friends on the Internet.

[emncaity]

Like I said. QED.

And what the hell does the rest mean? I think it means you're just another ass who enjoys flaming people when your own point doesn't hold up. Dime a dozen.

[davedelbecq]

Get a life fella

[emncaity]

I'm not saying Norman didn't have flaws; he did. He lost the '96 Masters not by "choking," but rather by a persistently unrealistic self-assessment of how precise his best iron game would be. On #9, for instance, he needed a 20-foot-past yardage, not on the hole. He did this repeatedly--believing he really could tell the difference between 167 yards and 169 yards. If anything held him back, it was that--the lack of a cold assessment of fallibility and variability.

[ElliottsFather]

Oh, thanks for explaining that. So it was nothing to do with the fact that choked, it was due entirely to problems with assessment and variability. I must remember to use that as an excuse the next time I play.

[emncaity]

When you reach anything near the level Norman does, you can.

Or maybe you'd like to explain why the inability to win a specific tournament in a specific situation equates to "choking," absent any real evidence of fear or nervousness. Is "choking" the only reason people lose when you "expect" them to win?

[ElliottsFather]

Reply to emncaity

So by your example of "tournament golf", Norman should have beaten Tway 80% of the time from their respective positions on the 18th hole. The fact that Norman not only couldn't but managed to lose just proves what a useless golfer he was when the pressure was on. So you agree with my argument. Thanks.

[emncaity]

Completely illogical. 80% is not 100%, and there are no guarantees in golf. So you've demonstrated your ignorance. Thanks.

[ElliottsFather]

Reply to emncaity

All I'm saying is that Norman will go alongside Andy North and Bernhard Langer as the winner of two major championships. If he was as good as you think he is he should have one more but he didn't because he was a supreme choker and a wasted talent who was only interested in making money. He was a gracious loser but he had a lot of practice doing that.

[emncaity]

This is what I'm talking about--typical talk from somebody who hasn't played at or near that level. "Should have," "here's what we expected," etc. "Only won two." That kind of crap. Players will know what I'm talking about. Those who aren't, won't.

[ElliottsFather]

I don't pretend to be a tournament golfer but I sure as hell know an over-rated choker when I see one.

[shwnkumar]

Just listening to ElliotsFather pisses me off!!! I bet you've never broken 100 in your life, and yet you sit on your butt and "monday morning quarterback" everybody else who tries their ass off to win a tourament. Why don't you achieve something first, and then criticize others. Greg Norman was one of the hardest workers out there, and set a gold standard for so many young players. If you love Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, and Geoff Ogilvy, thank the Great White Shark... That's all I've got to say

[ElliottsFather]

I heartily agree with your comments about Norman's effect on Australian golf, shwnkumar. He did a lot for the sport in my country and inspired a lot of youngsters to take up the game.

But he is still the biggest choker of all time.

Oh, by the way, I once shot a 77 at Ivanhoe Public Golf course in Melbourne and also a 78 at Albert Park golf course. But that was a long time ago.

Cheers!

[shwnkumar]

okay... You're obviously quite the player if you shot those scores. So you know what it takes. But saying biggest "choker" of all time to a person who inspired so many in your country seems quite harsh to me. Anyhow... you're entitled to your opinion. I live by the Western Open course in Chicago, so if you're looking for a good game, let me know!! I play to about a 5 as well...

Take Care,

GOd Bless

[bax0001]

i played with him at aulbury when he was a trainee or someting

hot

[akclau]

I love Norman! He didn't close the door in many majors, in some he just play faultered under pressure on Sunday, and in a couple of others people hole out to beat him! What the big deal about being human and sometimes letting pressure get the best of you? He's handle it all like a man, he's down to earth, honest, integral. You have to give it to him.

[ElliottsFather]

Norman is the only golfer to ever lose playoffs for all 4 major championships - the guy is the biggest choker of all time. And I'm an Aussie.

[emncaity]

You gotta be kidding. He's a choker because Mize barfed in a ridiculous pitch shot after hand-clutching his second shot way right? Because Bob Tway also gaffed his second shot into a bunker, then holed it, after Norman had made two solid swings to put his ball in great shape?

The guy's a multiple major-winner. He won what, 87 tournaments? 89? At the '93 Open, he played the best final round I've ever seen, even better than Jack's 66 at the Masters in '86. Some choke.

[emncaity]

No wonder the bloke quit. He knew no matter what he ever did from now on, it'd never satisfy people like you--and he knew his reputation was already made with anybody who knew anything about championship golf anyway.

[emncaity]

Sorry, that was directed at elliottsfather--should have shown up as a reply. The abysmally ignorant mattjones can consider his horseshit addressed too.

[ElliottsFather]

Reply to emncaity - Part 1

Greg Norman was a DUAL major winner, just like Andy North and Bernhard Langer. A multiple major winner is someone like Larry Nelson and Cary Middlecoff, but let's not split hairs.

On the 18th hole of the 1986 U.S.P.G.A. at Inverness Tway's tee shot landed in the rough (it was his honour since Norman had squandered a 4 shot lead going into the back nine) and then Norman's tee shot landed in the rough but luckily bounced back onto the fairway.

[ElliottsFather]

Reply to emncaity - Part 2

Tway did remarkably well to even make the greenside bunker but Norman, from the fairway and with a wedge, could only manage to spin his ball off the green and into the thick greenside rough. He did not "put his ball in great shape" - he choked. Tway now could relax and needed only a par and his ball went in. Yes, he was lucky but Norman, through his ineptitude, took the pressure off. At the very least he should have put his ball on the green.

[ElliottsFather]

Reply to emncaity - Part 3

On the second play-off hole of the 1987 Masters Mize did hit a truly awful approach with a 5-iron to the right of the green. Norman split the fairway and only had an 8-iron. From there the best he could do was to leave his ball 40 feet from the hole, again, not "in great shape" as you put it. As with Tway, Mize then needed only a par and he relaxed and the ball went in.

On both occasions Norman had his opponent on the ropes and he stuffed up.

[ElliottsFather]

Reply to emncaity - Part 4

Norman should have won at least 8 major championships (the events that great golfers are judged by) and he only won two. Yes, his performance in the 1993 British Open was a fine win but he threw away countless others.

He is the only player in history to lead all four majors after 54 holes in one year (1986) and he went on to win only one of those. Tiger, on the other hand, has never lost one, I believe.

[ElliottsFather]

Reply to emncaity - Part 5

I can list all the times Norman was in great positions in major championships to win but didn't because he choked and stuffed up but I will simply finish by reminding you of the 1996 Masters when Norman went into the final round with a record 6 shot lead and still managed to lose.

He was indeed a prolific tournament winner around the world but when it came to the majors he absolutely sucked.

And I do happen to know something about championship golf, too.

[emncaity]

Everybody was saying before that final round that he couldn't lose, and I told everybody of course anybody could. You could hit mostly good shots that were just a fraction off and shoot 73, and another guy could hit it about the same and scratch it around better and shoot 67 and catch you. It was ridiculous to talk about that as an insurmountable lead.

And again: Anybody who won two major championships does not "suck" at majors.

[emncaity]

Agreed that Tiger may be the best closer ever, although that's tempered greatly by the level of player he's had to face (nothing like Nicklaus had, for instance).

As for "should have won," again, what goes into defining that? If he goes into a playoff and a guy holes out a ridiculous shot, is it his fault that he "didn't win" what he "should have won"? Same story--you're ascribing way too much control to a golfer's own will. That's how fans like to think of it, I guess.

[emncaity]

1. I remembered him being a little closer; regardless, 40 feet on #11 in a playoff is good, esp. when your opponent is wide. Hogan said if you ever saw him close to the hole on #11, you'd know he missed his shot. He'd aim right fringe or off the green and count on 4 or 5. Wanna tell him what a choker he was?

2. Norman wins or ties in that position matchup AT LEAST 80%. Another non-example of choking. He was in great position to win, and a guy holed out a fluke shot. It happens.

[emncaity]

This is what I mean about people who know nothing about tournament golf. You put me where Norman was in two and put you where Tway was, I'm gonna beat you somewhere around 50% of the time; we'll tie around 20-30%; and you'll beat me no better than 20% or less. I have an 80% chance of winning right there or of going on to the next hole. It's just not choking. It's a ridiculous non-example of choking.

[emncaity]

1. Anything not "single" is "multiple."

2. Andy North didn't have 80+ victories to go with two Opens. Langer had more wins, but I guess you think he can't play either, since you're using him as an example here.

[JackBauer270]

Jesus Christ hit the fucking ball

[bukowski8]

hey grey! you suck! choke it up, buddy!

[TenJackQueenKingAce]

Matt your sad

[MattJones1418]

no i'm very happy!

[MattJones1418]

oh greg norman, your career sucked and yet you fleece everyone out of so much money

[e92m3fan]

why does it take him that long just to hit fucking ball

[MattJones1418]

uhhh... he was setting up to the ball

[MetallicA19185]

his career sucked? ur a fuckin idiot arent you?? he was world number 1 u fuckwit and dont doubt aussie talent us aussie golfers have friggen talent

[MattJones1418]

lol... yea adam scott is rakin in those majors!

[MetallicA19185]

yea ur such a fuckin funny guy

[MattJones1418]

what's funny?... that was just a fact

[Polus24]

He was the world's number one golfer for 331 weeks. What have you been number one at for 331 weeks?

[MattJones1418]

as has been noted... that ranking system is convoluted and developed by a sports marketing agency. but i did bang ur mom for 331 str8 weeks... she never used the term number one... but kept screaming oh my god... so i think god supersedes all number ones

[Polus24]

Sorry to have bothered you. I didn't realise you were just an immature little teenager. And even if you're older than that, it doesn't seem that way. If I'd known, I wouldn't have even replied to your original statement because it really doesn't mean anything coming from you.

[MattJones1418]

so u have no response on the ranking derivation then?

[Polus24]

None whatsoever. But I hope you enjoy arguing your point.

[MattJones1418]

so u concede defeat!... it's peanut butter jelly time... peanut butter jelly time... peanut butter jelly time!

[Polus24]

Yep. 'Victory' is yours.