53-year-old Norman rolls back the years

GREG NORMAN turned back the clock at Royal Birkdale yesterday to a time when the only Majors Tiger won were in his schoolday dreams and the Golden Bear was king of the fairways.

Back in the day, golf's Great White Shark was a bit like his namesake in the movie Jaws. He was frighteningly aggressive and threatening but, ultimately, would bite off more than he could chew in the closing scenes and explode spectacularly.

There were several examples of this, most painfully at Augusta National in 1996 when Norman blew apart on the final day of the US Masters, handing the Green Jacket to Nick Faldo.

Yet, as the hugely popular Australian swept majestically into contention at the Open Championship yesterday, just one stroke off the lead of South Korean KJ Choi, memories of another Masters finale in 1986 came bubbling to the surface.

On that occasion, Norman carved a four-iron approach way to the right of the 18 on his way to a closing bogey which helped ensure that Jack Nicklaus, then 46, would be installed as golf's oldest Major winner.

Norman will never equal the record 18 Majors Nicklaus won. Yet many here relish the romantic thought that the Shark, one of the sport's most charismatic and popular players, might this weekend carve his name into history at the grand old age of 53.

Back in '86, Norman actually led into the final round at all four Majors, winning only once when he claimed the first of his two Claret Jugs at Turnberry, overcoming a Birkdale-style maelstrom on the way.

Yet it was the manner of his victory at St George's in 1993, clinched with a barnstorming 64, which best summed-up the Shark and the voracious, predatory nature which so often pre-empted his downfall.

Simply winning, it seemed, was never enough. He had to do it in style. The penny never really dropped until 1999, when he walked with Jose Maria Olazabal in the final group at the Masters and suddenly realised you don't need to play extraordinary golf to win a Major.

As our own Padraig Harrington discovered at Carnoustie last summer, the everyday game which got you there is often good enough. If only Norman knew then what he knows now.

That menacing movie score from Jaws no longer thrums in his ears as he patrols the golf course. Indeed, Norman's still walking on air after last month's marriage to tennis ace Chris Evert. He's played more tennis than golf in recent weeks and arrived with zero expectations, instead placing his faith in the golf game and the base instincts which make him one of the most accomplished exponents of links golf in the world.

"Well yeah, of course you feel like you're stepping back in time," said Norman yesterday as he settled into his lofty perch on level par after posting his second round of 70 at The Open.

"My expectations were almost nil coming in, to tell you the truth. I hadn't played much golf. I was trying to work on my game as much as I could but, obviously, we had a lot of preparations to make for the wedding. We had a great time over there in Bermuda so the least of my worries was getting out there and hitting golf balls. The last month, my mind has been elsewhere, justifiably so too.

"My expectations are still realistically low and they have to stay that way too. It's great I'm playing well and doing it but I still haven't been there for a long time," said Norman, whose last top-10 finish at The Open came at Carnoustie in 1999.

Since graduating into Seniors golf, he didn't play the last two. So, to what does he attribute this year's mini-miracle?

"I think at all comes down to the individual. When you get into the mid to late 40s your body really doesn't react in the way your mind wants," he said.

"Your mind is still sharp, you still want to do it; you still feel it; you still feel comfortable and relaxed in your hands, but sometimes your lower back or some other part of your body won't let you do it.

"If you keep all of those things in good stead, however, it can make a difference. I said to Chris yesterday, the tennis I've been playing has been the best thing for me because it keeps me loose; it's good on the cardiovascular and it keeps my lower back strong."

Yet even when Norman's energy began to flag at the finish, he used his craft to fight his way out of three tight corners.

Never mind the 45-foot putt he sank for birdie at the first; forget the mental slip which led to a double-bogey at six; and pay only nodding tribute to the shots he picked up at seven and eight or Norman's splendid pitch-and-putt out of trouble for par at the gruelling 11th.

The Shark was at his most impressive as he played a phenomenal bunker shot off a gymnastic stance at greenside on 16; sank a 12-footer for a fighting bogey after driving into a horrible lie in the rough at 17; and then coolly sank a 20-footer for par from the fringe at 18 after his first putt had rolled off the green.

"Woody Austin called the one on 16 the best," said Norman. "He said I ought to thank Chris Evert for the way I stretched out playing that third shot. It was a very, very awkward lie."

Can a 53-year-old man win The Open? Who better to ask than Rocco Mediate, who at the age of 45 brought Tiger Woods all the way to sudden death after their 18-hole playoff at the US Open at Torrey Pines.

"If he gets his mind into it, Greg can win," said Mediate, who moved close to performing another piece of Major magic yesterday as a second-round 73 lifted him to within three strokes of the lead.

"Obviously, he's been doing a lot of other stuff but he's fine," added Rocco. "I heard the radio say they don't expect Norman to be in there on Saturday and I'm thinking, they don't know who this guy is."

Padraig Harrington agrees. "If he's interested, Greg Norman, I think he can win. I've played with him and he's still a mighty fine player," he said.

Norman imparted a few important tips to Camilo Villegas when they played a practice round at Birkdale on Tuesday. The 26-year-old Colombian put this information to good use yesterday as he moved to within one stroke of the Shark and two of Choi's lead with a spectacular second-round 65.

After a bogey-bogey start, Villegas equalled the record Open score at Birkdale -- set by Christy O'Connor Senior in 1965 -- with a phenomenal run of five successive birdies to the finish.

KJ Choi would steal a little of Norman's thunder yesterday evening, leapfrogging him to the head of the field with two closing birdies in a second-round 66. Yet it was the reappearance of the Great White Shark which once again caused hearts to flutter.

Serene

And maybe with the benefit of maturity, even serenity, Norman is better equipped to succeed where he failed so often in the past. "My life is great. I've got a wonderful wife and everything that's been going on round here is beautiful," he said.

"Obviously, this makes you feel more comfortable, more relaxed. I don't know if I can win this thing but, honestly, there's probably less pressure on me than anybody out here because I'm just going to go out there and have fun with it."

Looking back to 1986, he went on: "I don't think there is any owing in golf. I think you've just got to take advantage of the situation you're in. Jack came back with a fast and furious back nine in '86, did what he needed to do.

"It just goes to show you, age 46 or 53, there's not much difference. I may not have the physical ability to go out there and hit balls six, eight or 10 hours a day like I used to but my mind still wants to perform well. I salivate for it. I still cherish it."