Conquering His Demons 1996 Collapse Forgotten, Norman Says He’s Ready To Chase Masters Title

Nick Price sat in the Augusta National locker room last April 14, watching golf history unfold on television. He winced. He looked away from the TV. Finally, he got up and left.

“I can’t watch,” he said. “It’s making me sick.”

Millions shared Price’s sympathy pangs that day. Greg Norman’s final-round Masters collapse was that painful to watch. Norman’s close friend, Price, felt it. The gallery felt it. Television viewers felt it. Even the victor, Nick Faldo, felt it.

Heaven knows Norman felt it. Shooting 78 and blowing a six-shot lead on golf’s most conspicuous stage visibly devastated him. It tortured his brain and gnawed at his stomach for 4 helpless hours. Afterward, he called it the most disappointing round of his career, but vowed to return to Augusta and “kick some serious butt.”

This week, Norman finally can confront his Masters demons. He says it is a chance he relishes. He insists he only thinks about the 78 when reporters bring it up. He says it is the aftermath of his collapse, and Faldo’s triumphant 67, he most remembers.

“I can categorically say this,” Norman said. “If I won the Masters last year, it wouldn’t have changed my life, not 1 percent. But losing the Masters last year has changed my life.”

What changed Norman was the outpouring of public sympathy and support, starting with the hug he received from Faldo on the 18th green. Cards, letters and phone calls streamed, most commending Norman for the stand-up way he handled the defeat.

In fact, the letters never stopped. Norman says he received an average of 10 file boxes-full each week, and the volume grew as this year’s Masters approached. Norman says the public outpouring has given him an inner peace and a faith in others he never had.

“I’m happy now,” he said. “There’s nothing here in this world that’s going to bother me anymore. I made a mistake at the Masters, and I accept the fact I made a mistake. It was all my fault. If you people want to keep writing about it, so be it. It’s not going to affect me.

“I look forward to approaching the Masters with just as much passion as I had before things happened last year. I anticipate giving myself the same opportunity. And I hope I do have a six-shot lead going into Sunday, or even a one-shot lead. I look forward to a situation like that again.”

Golf fans no doubt are waiting to see how the 42-year-old handles this return to Augusta. Despite his denials, it is natural to wonder whether the collapse scarred him.

“There’s no doubt Greg has grown from what happened last year,” said Price, one of Norman’s Hobe Sound, Fla., neighbors. “He’ll no doubt be the crowd favorite this week. I don’t think that would have happened if not for last year.”

Norman has won 72 times worldwide, and his $10.6 million from PGA Tour events ranks No. 1. But his ‘96 Masters loss isn’t the only reason his name is synonymous with major championship misery.

He has won two British Opens (1986 and 1993) but never one of the three majors played on U.S. soil. He holds the dubious distinction of being the only player to lose playoffs in all four majors.

Norman is 1-6 in majors in which he has carried a lead into the final round, including the Masters in ‘86 (when he lost on the final hole to Jack Nicklaus) and ‘96.

As if his return to Augusta doesn’t scare up enough ghosts, this is the 10th anniversary of Larry Mize’s 140-foot playoff chip-in that beat Norman in the ‘87 Masters.

But after three rounds of last year’s Masters, Norman appeared on the verge of ending his major tournament anguish. He had led by two shots after one round, by four shots through two rounds, and by six through three rounds.

In fact, carrying a 13-under, 203 total into Sunday, Norman seemed closer to making history than being threatened by secondplace Faldo. A final-round 67 would enable him to break the tournament record of 271. He also was trying to become the first wire-to-wire Masters winner since Raymond Floyd in 1976.

“For one of us to catch him, it will take a 63 or 64,” predicted Phil Mickelson, who was in third place, seven shots behind Norman, entering the final round.

As it turned out, the field didn’t have to catch Norman. He came back to the field.

Even now, nearly a year later, Norman insists he wasn’t choking.

“It was more physical than it was mental,” he said. “My mental application, my preparation Sunday was excellent. But the physical aspect of my game was not. There was a minor flaw in my game, and it showed through.

“I tried to push it, and every golfer says the same thing about Augusta: You can’t force the issue. The more I forced it, the worse it got away from me.”

But there were signs, even early in Sunday’s round, that Norman’s problems were more than physical. Already a deliberate player, Norman labored over his shots even longer than usual.

Even now, Faldo doesn’t hesitate when asked if he remembers anything unusual about Norman that day.

“Yeah, I think the most obvious thing we saw was he started regripping the club a few extra times,” Faldo said. “So he was over the ball a lot longer than normal.”

Norman admits playing the back nine “in a complete twilight zone.” He bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11, leaving himself and Faldo in a tie at nine under. Until then, he had led the tournament alone for 48 straight holes.

As Norman prepared to hit his 7-iron tee shot on 12, his caddie, Tony Navarro, warned him: “Stick with your target now, just over the bunker.” But Norman swung for the pin. He stuck his tongue in his left cheek and anxiously watched the ball’s flight. It hit the bank in front of the green and rolled back into Rae’s Creek.

Still, Norman believed he had a chance entering the 15th, with a two-shot deficit. But his eagle chip from just off the green rolled just past the right lip. Norman sank to his knees, then fell onto his back.

So much for making history. When Faldo embraced him at 18, he told Norman: “I don’t know what to say. I just want to give you a hug.”

Mize, whose chip-in in ‘87 caused Norman to cry on the beach after he returned to his native Australia, was driving to Hilton Head with his family during Norman’s ‘96 collapse. He stopped and called his parents to find out what happened.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to watch it,” he said. “We’ve all played poorly, and at Augusta, there’s a fine line between playing good and doing something like that. It doesn’t take much.”

Norman is living proof. But as he promised a year ago, he didn’t “fall off the face of the earth.” At the urging of his personal trainer, Pete Draovitch, he agreed late last year to take three months off - his first extended break from golf in 20 years.

He spent time with his family. He drove his kids to school every day. He stepped up his workouts to nearly 2 hours a day.

“My time off was the best thing I’ve done in my life,” he said. “I’ve got a totally different perspective and attitude on life, golf, business. I think I’m a different person, I really do.

“When I get out on the golf course, I’m still intense. But nothing’s going to bother me. I’m not going to be worried about perceptions and people’s opinions, like I have been in the past.”

It seems doubtful Augusta could be as cruel to Norman this year. Then again, he’s thought that before.

“Look, I’m not going to dodge anything,” he said. “It happened. That’s the way life is. I can’t change it. But I know one thing: I won’t shoot 78 again.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE MASTERS The chase for the coveted green jacket begins Thursday. USA network’s live coverage Thursday and Friday begins at 1 p.m.