Norman ready for next major after amazing two weeks

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- There was no doubt in Tom Watson's mind who the spotlight would -- and probably should -- shine on at the 2008 U.S. Senior Open Championship.

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Greg Norman is content in both his personal and professional life.

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"Obviously (Greg Norman)'s the story this week," Watson stated emphatically. "As I said when I was doing the announcing for ABC, (it) would have gotten him even if he had won the British Open at Birkdale; (after) all the tournaments that were taken from him and he gave away in major championships."

Since he didn't win the British Open two weeks ago -- Norman tied for third -- and he could only muster a tie for fifth the following week at the Senior British Open, his last shot at major glory this year will come at The Broadmoor.

"It's going to be interesting to see," Watson continued. "He's a great driver of the golf ball. He should be driving the ball in most every fairway long. He hits the ball very high, so he does have a big advantage doing that. The higher you hit the ball in altitude here, the better, because that ball just keeps on carrying and carrying and carrying."

Norman could have participated in four consecutive major championships, but opted not to take the special exemption offered to him for the PGA Championship next week. Calling it one of the "toughest decisions I've had to make in golf", Norman consulted with his new wife Chris Evert and Bart Collins, the president of Great White Shark Enterprises, but ultimately had to make up his own mind.

Finally, Norman decided to honor the personal and business commitments he made prior to receiving the invite. So Norman wrote a letter to the PGA of America's CEO Joe Steranka expressing his regrets but stating what an honor it was to have been asked.

Don't misunderstand him, though. He's not hanging up the golf spikes for good. Norman said on Wednesday that he's looking forward to participating at Augusta National Golf Club for the 2009 Masters, an invitation to which he earned because of his finish at the British Open.

The fire is still there to win, but it's a different drive than he had as a young golfer. Losses don't affect him as much, yet he hungers for another victory. Norman even went so far as to say that his past two weeks have been a disappointment.

"I know deep down inside my game is solid, my game is strong. My head is good. I'm relaxed. I got a great attitude. Everything feels good, and, if I don't play well, it doesn't really bother me," Norman said. "But I do want to go out there and perform well. I do want to play well.

"I have been disappointed in my two finishes the past two weeks, which is a very good sign. I could have easily said I was happy with third place in 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 hasn't really played much to come up and give myself a chance to win a major championship; at the same time, you can say boy, what could have been?"

The golf in Colorado is "totally different", Norman said, due to the altitude difference, especially compared to the seaside links courses that Norman's faced over the past two weeks. As Watson said, players who hit the ball high will have an advantage since the ball tends to stay in the air for longer.

Luckily for Norman -- and perhaps unluckily for the rest of the field -- his shots tend to fly higher rather than lower.

Another altitude difference involves adjusting club selections based on the added distance. Most players figure the ball will travel 10 percent further. At the age of 53, though, Norman is used to such calculations. Besides, he won the 1989 INTERNATIONAL at a similar altitude. He also spends "quite a lot" of time these days at his ranch just a few hours from Colorado Springs, and occasionally hikes as high as 12,500 feet.

"We're hitting 9-irons at Royal Birkdale -- if you wanted to hit a 9-iron into (that) wind -- you'd probably hit it 90 yards. Here, you hit a 9-iron, you hit it 180 yards. So the toughest is trusting your calculations," Norman explained.

Despite his limited playing schedule, the Shark, looking the part on Wednesday in a silver-and-gray shirt and a black Shark-logoed hat covering his straw-colored hair, has stayed busy with golf course design. As with golf, the business forces him to be a globe-trotter and a driven, dedicated worker. He constantly strives to become better at both golf and running his companies.

While Norman wasn't surprised at all by his success across the pond, he knows it came as a shock to many. But when you're newly married, happily building successful businesses and generally satisfied with life, everything else seems to fall into place.

"We all know if you're happy in life, everything else in the world seems pretty darn good. And that's really the testament," Norman said. "...When things are going great, and you're happy about everything, it permeates through everything you have in life. My golf is where it is now because I love being where I am now."

Watson witnessed firsthand Norman's historic performance at the British Open, so he knows that Norman's still the same fighter and golfer that finished in the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking in seven different years.

"I don't see much difference in him. He played some great golf over on the links courses. You know, he still has the game to play. He just chooses not to play," Watson said. "And one of the things that I have found in the way I play; now -- I don't play very much -- but when I play, I play in stretches. I play five weeks in a row and by the end of five weeks, I [am] pretty good.

"And Greg, this is his third week in a row, and he's got that competition now under his fingernails. He's got it right there. And so he's fine tuning it, and I think that gives him somewhat of an advantage."

If Watson's prediction comes true, a win would cap off an amazing three-week stretch for Norman.