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SOUTHPORT, England -- Who does he think he is, Greg Norman?
On the silliest Saturday at a major championship in years, with balls disappearing in high winds and higher rough, a cool blast from the past stole the lead, the headlines and a few million hearts.
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| Greg Norman's position on the leaderboard is no surprise to his foes. (Getty Images) |
Over three days, the mood at Royal Birkdale has morphed from surreal to sublime to just plain stupid. Norman hasn't won a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in 11 years, hasn't won a major championship since 1993 and missed the cut at all three of his U.S. tour events this year.
Now he's 18 holes from becoming the oldest major winner by five years. Old Tom Morris is probably coughing up cobwebs of joy.
As Norman nearly holed a 30-yard chip shot on the last hole for an exclamation-mark birdie, as thousands in the grandstands jumped to their feet and screamed their lungs out as the ball slipped past the cup, an old rival watched quietly from a few feet away.
Nick Faldo, a three-time Open winner himself, shook his head and clapped. You could not possibly make this stuff up.
"No," Faldo said, "you really couldn't."
Faldo, mind you, is two years younger than the Shark.
The following thesis is humbly submitted for your consideration: When 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus won the Masters in 1986 with a wild rally on the back nine on Sunday, it was roundly considered the most memorable victory in major-championship history. Given Norman's almost painful legacy when staked to the third-round lead, at this stage of his career, the Nicklaus story clearly gets shoved to the back of the book shelf if the Shark holds on to win.
Why? If Norman gets it done at this age, at this stage, it would read like the greatest work of English fiction since Shakespeare was writing plays at the Globe Theater. All that remains to be seen is whether Sunday presents a comedy or tragedy for public consumption.
Norman is well-read in both and probably knows what people are thinking this time around. Sure, two decades ago, he was No. 1 in the world and expected to deliver the goods under extreme circumstances. Now he's an over-the-hill, slightly wrinkled icon caught in some sort of fantastic flashback.
"It is different," Norman said, comparing then and now. "The players are probably saying, 'My God, what's he doing up there?'"
Not just the players, Sharky. The entire sporting public is asking the same thing. The last time he held the 54-hole lead at a major was 1996, when he blew a six-shot lead at Augusta National to lose to Faldo, equaling the largest collapse after three rounds in PGA Tour history.
This time, he's mostly not expected to win. Of course, we all thought that after Friday's second round, too, when he was one shot back. Norman admitted to feeling huge butterflies for the first time in roughly a decade as he stepped to the first tee.
"He was different, a little nervous this morning," said his bride of three weeks, former tennis great Chris Evert. "I could tell. But he embraced it."
Like Nicklaus in 1986, Norman has become a part-time player who spends more time on business and family interests than on golf. Norman has also endured a litany of physical issues, including surgeries on his shoulder in 1998, hip in 2000, back in 2005 and knee last year.
Thus, only a complete Claret Jughead would have expected Norman to survive the type of brutal day Royal Birkdale presented. Though Norman said he mostly teed it up at Birkdale as a means of preparing himself for next week's Senior British Open, one major English betting parlor had him listed at 250-to-1 to start the week. Before the third round, he had improved to 20-to-1. Heading into Sunday, he's 4-to-1.
They believe. Maybe we should, too. Who cares if he hasn't won a major in 15 years?
"When he's interested, Greg Norman can really play," said defending Open champion Padraig Harrington, who will play alongside the Shark on Sunday. "When he wants it, and he's as fit a 53-year-old as there is, once he puts his mind to it, he certainly can play. He hasn't lost any of his ability."
Nicklaus was at Royal Birkdale this week and noticed the Aussie was hanging tough on the leaderboard and drew a personal parallel.
"The only thing I'd relate it to is 1986 when I won the Masters," Nicklaus said Friday afternoon. "I hadn't played any golf, either. But I remembered how to play when I needed to down the stretch. And he'll remember how to play when or if he gets into position to do so."
When those sentiments were relayed to Norman, he jumped to attention.
"I think that's a very good comment to make," Norman said. "I think only the individuals who have been there before know what to do."
Or what not to.
Norman was asked earlier in the week if his know-how at the majors might give him an edge -- he has two British Open titles to his credit -- but to be honest, that experience truly represents a double-edged sword. And boy, has he been skewered over the years.
No modern player has more mental scar tissue down the stretch at the majors than Norman, who hasn't held the 54-hole lead at a Grand Slam event in 12 years. He's one of two men to have lost every major in a playoff, and while he has certainly bungled a few away, he has also had a couple ripped from his grasp.
He has had eight runner-up finishes in majors, including the past four in a row after holding the 54-hole lead. But for those who haven't seen the stare in a few years, Norman had it working Saturday during what he called one of the three toughest rounds he has ever played, given the circumstances.
Norman deferred when asked, in a variety of ways, whether he could finish off the task at hand. Others felt no reason to withhold judgment.
"Most certainly," caddie Linn Strickler said. "Because he's been there so many times. Count the number of times the other ones have."
Good point. Harrington is seeking to become the first European since 1906 to win consecutive Open titles and has been fighting a wrist injury. The only other player in the top 14 with a major is Ben Curtis, a middle-tier tour player from the States.
Harrington harkened back to Norman's second British Open win as a textbook example of Norman's tenacity.
"At Royal St. Georges, the tougher the shot got, the more he enjoyed it, the more he was into it," the Irishman said. "It just goes to show it's really a question for a lot of guys later on in their career, their interests move on, their goals in life change.
"But Greg seems to be back thinking about it this week, and he's well capable of putting it together as he's shown in the first three rounds. I don't think anybody should expect anything but good play from him tomorrow."
If Harrington is mulling the unthinkable, who are we to argue the point? Norman realizes anything could happen, especially at this point in his Hall of Fame career.
Hell, it always has.
"I've got to go out there and play my game," he said, "and I'll answer a lot of different questions tomorrow night if I have to."