'Great White Shark' is back

Chinese golf fans are in for a rare treat at the upcoming US$2.3 million BMW Asian Open, April 24-27 in Shanghai, when Australian great Greg Norman graces the all-star field.

The two-time British Open winner, who with Nick Faldo dominated golf in the immediate pre-Tiger Woods era of the 1980s and early 1990s, is making a rare tournament appearance at Tomson Pudong Golf Club, only his third event this year.

Although now 53 years old, the 2001 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee showed he was still a match for the current generation of top golfers when he finished equal seventh at the South African Airways Open in December, five strokes clear of South African giants Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

Nicknamed 'The Great White Shark' by a reporter during the 1981 US Masters, Norman has won 91 professional events throughout the world and in addition to his two British Open wins in 1986 and 1993, he recorded 29 top-ten finishes in Majors (US Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship), or more than 38 percent of those he has entered.

In his last Shanghai appearance at the 2004 BMW Asian Open, Norman was right among the leaders at five-under before getting disqualified in the third round for a wrong drop on Tomson Pudong's difficult par-three 17th.

"I feel good about the game," reveals Norman. "I have tremendous amount of respect for BMW's commitment to golf worldwide and have enjoyed playing in BMW events around the world. I expect to have a good showing in Shanghai."

Now engaged to tennis legend Chris Evert, Norman said he had no regrets about his playing career that included many highs and several high-profile near misses, most noticeably his final round collapse at the 1996 Masters when he blew a six-shot lead.

"In golf, you are going to win tournaments and you are going to lose tournaments," he said. "Certainly, I have lost a few that at the time were quite disappointing. But I found that ultimately I learned more from analyzing why I lost a tournament and improving on those weaknesses. As such, they all blend together throughout your golf career."

Norman spent a staggering 331 weeks at world number one during his peak and he amassed 20 wins on the US PGA Tour. The Australian golf legend was also a five-time Byron Nelson Award winner for the lowest adjusted scoring average (1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995) awarded by the US PGA Tour.

The Florida-based Norman, who has travelled to China many times, said he was very impressed with how golf was growing in the country. He singled out China's number one Liang Wen-Chong as a player to watch.

"I believe China is unrivalled in producing world class athletes and golf is no exception," said Norman. "Like many countries, it requires a very strong junior development program. I think if golf were to be an Olympic sport, we would have seen greater progress, but still we have seen constant improvement from young Chinese players."

Undoubtedly influenced by wife tennis legend Chris Evert, Norman is playing more tennis of late, but golf is still his number one passion.

"In the last year and a half, I have begun to play a great deal more tennis. I always have new challenges and I very much enjoy the challenge of learning this sport and improving my game," he said. "Fortunately, golf is a game you can play your entire life. While I am playing less golf, I enjoy the golf I do play. This year, I will be playing more events, focusing on the tournaments and the golf courses I enjoy"

(China Daily 04/23/2008 page27)