Norman’s Goal in ‘87: to Do Better

Just when players on the pro golf tour thought it was safe to go back onto the course, he’s back.

Having left the United States for four months to conquer a couple of other continents, Greg (the Great White Shark) Norman has returned for the first event of the 1987 PGA Tour, the MONY Tournament of Champions here.

The other players no doubt were hoping Norman would take another week off, perhaps to join Jack Nicklaus in Florida for some tennis.

Among last year’s 30 tour winners, Nicklaus is the only one who declined an invitation to La Costa Country Club for the 72-hole tournament, which runs today through Saturday.

There also is a senior tournament, which includes 10 winners from last year’s tour.

No other golfer has ever had a year like Norman’s in 1986.

If tournaments ended after 54 holes instead of 72, he would have won the Grand Slam. Leading after the third round of all four major tournaments, he won the British Open, finished second in the PGA and tied for second in the Masters.

He won tournaments on four continents, failing for some reason to enter any in South America, Africa or Antarctica. In tournaments alone, not including bonus money or endorsements, he earned more than $1.3 million, including a record $653,296 on the PGA Tour.

Norman, 31, was the Tour’s leading money winner even though he played only 72 rounds, far fewer than played by most PGA players. For instance, runner-up Bob Tway played 110.

When Norman left the tour after the World Series of Golf Aug. 24, he said he assumed Tway would pass him.

“I was only $28,000 ahead when I left,” he said. “I thought Tway would best it easy.”

Nine weeks later, Tway entered the final tournament that counted toward the money standings, the Seiko-Tucson Match Play Championship, still in second place.

He won his first-round match but needed one more victory to overcome Norman.

“I was in Australia when my agent (Hughes Norton) called and said Tway was three down with six holes to play,” Norman said Tuesday. “I got excited and started calling every 15 minutes.”

Tway lost, falling $516 short of Norman.

“I went out after that and shot 65 and won a tournament,” Norman said.

That was one of six straight tournaments Norman won after leaving the U.S. tour, including three in his native Australia.

“I was tired and didn’t feel like playing,” he said. “But my wife (Laura) said that if I won in Australia, I could be the money-leader in three different places, the U.S., Europe and Australia. I played nine weeks in a row. I’ll never do that again.”

But he said it was worth it.

“I got my greatest reception ever in Australia, especially from the younger players,” he said. “That meant more to me than anything, being accepted by the Australians.”

Some players have suggested that Norman played so often on so many different continents in 1986 that he might not be ready to start a new season. But when asked his goals for 1987, he didn’t sound burned out.

“To do better,” he said. “That’s the only thing to do. I’ve forgotten about ’86. I don’t even think about it or reflect on it.”

More specifically, he said, he’s pointing toward the Masters.

“I’m really keen about having that green-colored jacket on me,” he said. “I’m focusing on it more than any of the others.”

Norman said he will play 30 tournaments this year, 20 on the PGA Tour. But he has a light early schedule, having entered only this tournament and the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, set for Jan. 29-Feb. 1, between now and the middle of March.

He didn’t list winning the Grand Slam as one of his goals, but that’s not because he lacks the confidence to do it.

“It definitely can be done,” he said. “The four tournaments this year are going to be on courses that suit long hitters (the Masters at Augusta, the U.S. Open at Olympic in San Francisco, the British Open at Muirfield, and the PGA at PGA National Champions in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.).

“Only certain players have a chance to win at Augusta, primarily the long hitters,” he said. “You can take 30% of the field, and they have a chance to win. The others don’t.”