It’s Masters Week and to celebrate I will be focusing on golf and The Masters this week. Up first a story of struggle and pain at Augusta. This is Greg Norman, Augusta’s greatest loser.
Over the years many that have tried and failed to claim victory at The Masters, but none have come so close and lost so often as Greg Norman. Seven times… SEVEN TIMES he has had not just a chance, but a true blue opportunity to win come Sunday afternoon. No one else has anything like this kind of track record without claiming a green jacket. Norman has found every way to lose, from comebacks falling short, to all day leaderboard jockeying, to blowing huge leads he’s done it all. Every time Norman has been forced to assume the position. I’m going to go through the seven Masters he almost won and rank them on a pain index (index sounds cooler than scale) out of 10.
1981– This was the year of Norman’s first real shot at the green jacket. As a 26 year old he was in a 4-way tie for the lead after a first round 69 (nice). He kept himself amongst the leaders as he entered the final round 2 behind Tom Watson and 1 back of Jack Nicklaus. He never got within 2 shots during the final round and ended up finishing T-4, 3 shots back of Watson. This is probably the flimsiest of his challenges and as the first of his challenges it’s limited pain.
Pain Index- 2/10
1986– This is perhaps the most famous Masters of all time. Probably most remembered for Jack’s great comeback, it was also the scene of some all time chokes. Norman entered the final round with a 1-shot lead this time, but with a whole host of legends on his tail. Five different players held at least a share of the lead during the final round. Norman shared the lead making the turn, but double bogeyed the 10th to seemingly fall out of contention. Seve Ballesteros had control for most of the back nine, but rinsed it from the fairway at 15 and 3 putted the 17th to fall out of contention. Nicklaus took control with an eagle, birdie, birdie stretch from 15-17. It looked like he had the tournament wrapped up when he parred 18 to finish at 9 under. This is when things get whacky for Norman. He birdied 14, 15, 16, and then 17 all season in a row to suddenly tie the Golden Bear for the lead. Norman split the fairway on 18 and seemed nailed on for at least a playoff. He had other plans. He shoved his approach shot into the gallery and after chipping to 15 feet he missed the putt and missed a playoff by a shot. On the surface this would seem to fit max pain, but I’m not so sure. He was kind of on the periphery for most of the back nine and while he gagged on the final hole he showed he could get it done with four straight late birdies prior to his final hole gaffe.
Pain Index- 8/10
1987– This one hurt Norman. Going into the final round 1 back he had a similar round to 86. He fell off early on the back nine, then made a run to the lead halfway through. Norman stood on the 18th green with a putt to win The Masters. And did it ever look like it was going in. You’d think that would be max pain, but it was just getting started. He went into a 3-way playoff with Seve Ballesteros and Augusta native Larry Mize. Seve was eliminated after bogeying the 10th and Mize and Norman moved on to 11. Mize missed the green short right and Norman hit the green, but not with a great look at birdie. It looked like par might be enough to win, but Mize had other plans. He hit a chip that would rock Augusta. My parents, who were living in Augusta at the time, said they could hear the roar from their house. Norman missed his long putt to force another hole and pain. There’s no sugar coating this one. He thought he’d won only to lose to an improbable shot. Ouch.
Pain Index- 10/10
1989– Going into the weekend Norman seemed completely out of the tournament, but after a 3rd round 68 put him 4 back going into the final round he was in the hunt. You’ll never guess this, but Norman made a huge run on the back nine and 3 straight birdies he headed to the 18th sharing the lead. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but he missed the green and when he needed to hole a putt on 18 he missed it and the playoff, which was eventually won by Nick Faldo (we’ll be seeing more of him). Honestly this loss feels similar to 86 and will get the same score.
Pain Index- 8/10
1995– Coming into the final round he was 3 out of the lead, but also out of the top 10. That being said after his birdie on 15 he was one shot back. However he bogeyed 17 and Ben Crenshaw went on a late run to finish 4 ahead of 3rd place Norman. Not a lot of pain in this one.
Pain Index- 3/10
1996– This is the big one. I know that might sound crazy after the other losses, but this one is… different. Norman led after each of the first three rounds and took a 6-shot lead of Faldo into the round. This had to be his year. He dominated the tournament. He didn’t even need to play well to win. What could possibly go wrong. Everything. Everything went wrong. He made every mistake you can possibly make and after a 78 he turned a 6-shot deficit into a 5-shot defeat. In every other loss he had moments, he made runs, he had clutch moments, but not this time. This was choke, on choke, on choke. I have no words, there is no ranking that could do it justice.
Pain Index- PAIN! PAIN!! PAIN!!!
1999– 96 felt like the end, but there’s always one last job. Norman headed into the final round 1-shot back and after eagling the 13th hole he held a share of the lead with Jose Maria Olazábal. However he would bogey the next two holes to fall out of contention and ultimately finished 3-shots back and in 3rd. At 44 this was his last, best chance to claim that ever elusive green jacket and because of that we’re dealing with real pain.
Pain Index- 9/10
There you have it, that’s the long, painful story of Augusta’s greatest loser. Don’t feel too bad for him though, he’s still a handsome, rich Australian with… uh… certain gifts so it’s ok to revel in his failures a little.
