No Green Jacket, but Norman Wins a Tony

Sure, motivational guru Tony Robbins has great teeth, but what else? As it turns out, he has Greg Norman as a client.

“Everybody needs a piece of stimulation and a piece of motivation,” said Norman, who said he talked Monday with Robbins.

Norman said he always has admired Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley and that Riley and Robbins had conducted a seminar recently, so he decided to check it out.

The idea was not to help him over last year’s final-day collapse at the Masters, Norman said.

“What I got out of it was just reminding myself who I am and how good I am, basically, because you forget about that,” Norman said.

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Arnold Palmer will play his 43rd Masters after having prostate surgery in January. Not surprisingly, he said he’s glad to be here.

“It’s a lot nicer looking down on the grass instead of looking up at it,” he said.

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The first time Eddie Merrins came to the Masters was in 1957, when he drove all night from his home in Meridian, Miss., so he could see his hero, Ben Hogan, play Augusta National on the weekend.

Unfortunately, 1957 was the first year of the cut at the Masters, Hogan shot 76-75 and was gone before Merrins got there.

Merrins, the teaching pro at Bel-Air, was back at Augusta National for practice rounds Monday and Tuesday, watching the players he coached at UCLA--Duffy Waldorf, Corey Pavin and Scott McCarron.

“It’s an interesting group,” Merrins said. “I think they’ve all got a chance.”

Last year, Waldorf tied for fifth, Pavin tied for seventh and McCarron tied for 10th.

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It’s the 10th anniversary of Larry Mize’s 140-foot chip shot that beat Norman on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.

Mize has won two tournaments since.

Taking that walk down memory lane has occupied much of his time leading up to the Masters, Mize said. He said he’s sort of glad it’s nearly over now.

“It has been fun, but believe it or not, I’m talked out. No matter what, I can’t figure out any more different ways to say it.”

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From Tom Lehman to Mize as he walked past: “Lucky chip.”

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Nick Faldo said it’s probably premature to pick Tiger Woods to win this week, mainly because this is only Woods’ third Masters.

“I think there’s a learning curve of playing Augusta,” Faldo said. “You know, it’s not impossible, but I think that experience does help here.”

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Starting Times

Pairings and start times (Pacific daylight) for Thursday’s first round of the Masters:

5:00 a.m. Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead,

Byron Nelson (ceremonial)

5:20 a.m. Gay Brewer, Charles Coody

5:29 a.m. Billy Casper, Doug Ford

5:38 a.m. Tommy Aaron, Ken Green

5:47 a.m. John Cook, Stewart Cink

5:56 a.m. Scott Hoch, Sam Torrance

6:05 a.m. Larry Mize, Tom Miller

6:14 a.m. Dan Forsman, Lee Westwood

6:23 a.m. Jeff Sluman, Michael Bradley

6:32 a.m. Scott McCarron, Justin Leonard

6:41 a.m. Dudley Hart, Duffy Waldorf

6:50 a.m. D.A. Weibring, Ed Fiori

6:59 a.m. Fuzzy Zoeller, Steve Scott

7:08 a.m. Lee Janzen, Frank Nobilo

7:17 a.m. David Orgin, Clarence Rose

7:26 a.m. Mark Brooks, Stuart Appleby

7:35 a.m. John Morse, David Berganio Jr.

7:44 a.m. Bob Tway, Jeff Maggert

7:53 a.m. David Duval, Jesper Parnevik

8:02 a.m. Craig Stadler, David Frost

8:11 a.m. Jim Furyk, Kenny Perry

8:20 a.m. Fred Couples, Vijay Singh

8:29 a.m. Corey Pavin, Loren Roberts

8:38 a.m. Sandy Lyle, Mark Calcavecchia

8:47 a.m. Tom Kite, Paul Azinger

8:56 a.m. Colin Montgomerie, Davis Love III

9:05 a.m. Brad Faxon, Tommy Tolles

9:14 a.m. Steve Jones, Per-Ulrik Johansson

9:23 a.m. Ben Crenshaw, Costantino Rocca

9:32 a.m. Tom Watson, Steve Elkington

9:41 a.m. Jack Nicklaus, Yoshinori Kaneko

9:50 a.m. Raymond Floyd, Robert Allenby

9:59 a.m. Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson

10:08 a.m. Arnold Palmer, Warren Bladon

10:17 a.m. Bernhard Langer, Mark McNulty

10:26 a.m. Gary Player, Tim Hogarth

10:35 a.m. Steve Stricker, Paul Stankowski

10:44 a.m. Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods

10:53 a.m. Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O’Meara

11:02 a.m. Tom Lehman, Nick Price

11:11 a.m. Ian Woosnam, Ernie Els

11:20 a.m. Seve Ballesteros, Jumbo Ozaki

11:29 a.m. John Huston, Willie Wood

11:38 a.m. Fred Funk, Guy Boros