GREG Norman was my biggest sporting hero when I was growing up.
I loved his bravado and how he made the game of golf look so entertaining.
I bought as much “Shark” golf apparel as I could afford when, as a university student in Canberra, I started playing competition golf in the 1990s.
I rode all his highs and the many heartbreaks in majors.
Who could forget the 1996 US Masters, when Norman took a six-shot lead into the final round, only to blow it big time and hand Nick Faldo the green jacket that year.
I’m old enough to remember Norman leading all four majors in 1986 heading into the final round – known as the “Saturday Shark Slam”.
However, he only won one of them – the British Open at Turnberry.
In fact, Norman only went on to win only one more major – a second Open championship in 1993, at Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England.
What is more memorable are his eight runner-up finishes in majors, including the collapse to Faldo and perhaps the most heartbreaking of all: when Larry Mize freakishly chipped in off the green to beat Norman in a playoff at the 1987 US Masters.
Off the course, Norman has built up an impressive business empire, with his “Great White Shark” brand recognised around the world.
Aside from sportswear, he makes a mint out of designing golf courses, and sells wine through Greg Norman Estates and game meat through Greg Norman Australian Prime.
His Shark.com website lists several other entrepreneurial pursuits that means Norman is not short of a dollar.
However, what Norman still craves is public attention.
He hit the headlines again this week when he revealed he had contracted COVID-19. It’s a terrible thing, and let’s hope he makes a speedy recovery.
But it came at the end of a year when he showed he was more of a narcissist than a golfing great bowing out of the public spotlight with grace and dignity.
On the heels of posting naked photos of himself on a beach, on a rock ledge and on a golf course with only an iron and driver in hand, Norman launched a public competition earlier in the year to find out who his biggest fan is.
He urged fans to send in a 1000-word essay on his website on just why they love him so much.
Or, they could have made a video about the reasons why they adore Norman so much and post it on social media with #GregNormanBiggestFan.
It showed Norman needed to look no further than himself to unearth his biggest fan.
Look, he has a cut body and looks good for a 65-year-old.
But do we really need to see Norman taking off his kit as much as we have in the past few years?
When I showed one of my female colleagues some of Norman’s naked photos yesterday, she thought some were “great art”.
But for me, I want to remember the great man for his sporting prowess in the ’80s and ’90s, not how tanned his backside has become in the Florida sunshine.
