“Obviously he’s the story this week,” five-time British Open champion Tom Watson said Wednesday at the Broadmoor. “… You’ve got some players here that all have names and all can win this golf tournament. But the story this week is probably about Greg.
“This is his third week in a row (playing tournaments), and he’s got that competition now under his fingernails. He’s fine-tuning it, and I think that gives him somewhat of an advantage.”
Norman, who won the 1989 International in Castle Rock and owns a 14,000-acre ranch in northwest Colorado, apparently doesn’t need much fine-tuning to compete at the highest level. Prior to the British Open, he had played in a grand total of five official Tour-sanctioned events since the beginning of 2006. But in the last two weeks, he’s finished third in the British Open and fifth in the Senior British Open.
“I have been disappointed in my finishes the past two weeks, which is a very good sign,” Norman said Wednesday. “I could have easily said I was happy with third place at the British Open, and quite honestly I was upset and disappointed. As we look back on it, yeah, it was an unusual sporting moment in time for a guy my age who hadn’t really played much to give myself a chance to win a major championship. At the same time, you can say, boy, you know what, it could have been.
“Same with the Senior British Open. So that’s a good sign for me that I’m not content with the result. I’m thinking, you should have been better. You can improve. And hopefully I’m going to do that this week.”
Evert has been on hand for most of Norman’s tournaments this year, and she was expected to arrive at the Broadmoor on Wednesday. Whether it’s coincidence or not, Norman has looked like his old self -- he was the world’s top-ranked golfer for 331 weeks -- with Evert around. The two were married last month in the Bahamas.
“It’s reflected in my game, but it’s more contentment with life,” he said of his latest marriage. “We all know if you’re happy in life, everything else in the world seems pretty darn good. And that’s really the testament. … My golf is where it is now because I love being where I am now.”
Having both been to the top of their respective sports, Norman and Evert talk about what it takes to be a success. And that helped Norman at the British Open, where he held the 54-hole lead.
“It’s wonderful to have a companion and your wife to be able to sit back and talk about it,” Norman said. “When you’re the No. 1 in the world in your sport for so long, there’s nobody else you can talk to because nobody else is above you. You’re it. And sometimes you’ve got to fight for it yourself.
“At the British Open, I was on my own and I had myself and my wife. I didn’t have a coach. I didn’t have a sports psychologist. I didn’t have a trainer. Sometimes it’s great to be able to do that. I’ve been that way my whole life -- do pretty much everything on your own and figure it out yourself. And sometimes you make a lot of mistakes doing it because you don’t have that support team that helps you get around those bumps and hollows. And I’ve got one now, and it’s a beautiful feeling.”
As good a run as Norman has been on, this week he turned down an invitation to play next month’s PGA Championship. He called it one of the toughest decisions he’s had to make in golf, but he has many other commitments, mainly business-related.
Playing well recently “doesn’t make me want to play more,” he said. “I just want to play better. I don’t have the desire to go play four weeks in a row. That fire is not in my belly, I can tell you that. But the fire that is in my belly is just to improve and play better every time I play.”
