Wedded bliss the catalyst for Norman revival

IT WOULD be understandable if Scots had begun to get excited upon learning that, at the half-way stage of this year's Open, a recently married veteran who had spent the weekend prior to the tournament in Scotland was among those leading the field.

But while Colin Montgomerie remains involved, the startling bullet of news from Birkdale is one we are all still struggling to digest. Greg Norman is riding high again, and better still – he has Chris Evert in tow.

This is a marked improvement on last year at Carnoustie, when all we had to get excited about was another celebrity with the same C and E initials. Unfortunately, they stood for Chris Evans. If we estimate yesterday's crowd at being around 36,000, and that, say, just less than a half were men over the age of 30, then there were at least 15,000 people with experience of what it is to swoon at the altar of Evert. Hearts had been broken anew with the news from Barbados a few weeks ago that Evert had got hitched for a third time. Had the wedding banns described Norman as a former golfer then possibly only Norman himself would have had reason to quibble. Indeed, perhaps not even he would have disagreed judging by his comments about golf being the least of his concerns of late.

For most of us Norman is simply a great figure from the past with a memorable nickname and, as someone from these parts might say, a lorra lorra dough. Now he is in line to win the Open. If he does, he will get to take Evert as well as the Claret Jug to bed. Some guys have all the luck.

Norman revealed that Evert has helped make him more flexible which, we think, was a reference to all the tennis he has been playing. He certainly needed to manoeuvre his body into an interesting position yesterday while saving par at the 16th hole, and where his second shot had found a nasty lie in a bunker. To the evident amusement of his playing partner Woody Austin, Norman adopted an unusual stance when negotiating his way out of this tight spot. Austin, himself, had entertained the galleries by wearing a truly ghastly shirt. The riot of colour amid images of trees appeared to depict the napalm scene in the film Apocalypse Now.

Norman, by contrast, was a picture of understatement. Dark brown top, black waterproof trousers and white cap, out of which the sun-bleached blond locks tumbled, the way they always did. He went out in one under par, birdying a third of the holes. He came back in again in one over par, but having earned a bogey which should really have been a double at the 17th. The Shark then salvaged par at the last in front of a hysterical audience, which included, of course, Evert.


The former tennis star had again followed him around the course. While his wife, dressed in black waterproofs, caused a distraction Norman simply powered on. Proving how difficult it is for newly weds to stay apart Evert even joined her husband in the press tent as he attempted to provide some kind of explanation for his phenomenal showing over the first 36 holes. He had told on Thursday how a trip with Evert to Skibo Castle in Sutherland last weekend had put him back in the mood for the game, with Norman having previously found himself playing more tennis than golf. He was asked whether he had been motivated by thoughts of catching up with Evert's total of 18 tennis majors. Norman currently has two – both Opens. Should he emerge triumphant on Sunday he will equal Gary Player's post-war record of having won Open titles 15 years apart. Evert's tally, though, is surely an elusive goal, even given the restorative powers clearly offered by being married to her.

"Jesus," said Norman, when reminded that his new bride had a few more majors than himself. "No, I am not trying to get caught up. She's also won about 154 tournaments. I wish I had her level of success. She won 91 per cent of her matches she's ever played. If I won 91 per cent of the time I went out there and played the game of golf, I'd be pretty good I'd say. No, we don't try and compare what we've done on or off the tennis court."

Norman described himself as an 18 handicapper at tennis but Evert was more generous when surrounded by (mostly male) reporters at the end of the golfer's briefing. Fortunately, thanks to the conditions this week, most have already managed to perfect the art of writing on damp paper. Tongues were hanging out, put it that way. Evert took it all in good grace, and even let one question, about whether Greg had moved into her home, pass without too much comment. "I don't think Andy (her ex-husband, who still lives there] would be too crazy about that," she laughed. They are, she revealed, planning to build their own house together in Florida, one with a tennis court in its grounds presumably. "He's a good athlete, said Evert. "I never knew a golfer could run – they don't need to. But he knows how to run because he used to be a good rugby player. He has a big serve, and a sliced back-hand, Federer-style. He takes tennis very seriously because he wants to improve."

Evert seemed to enjoy being back in the position where sports writers were quizzing her. She became ever more indiscreet, even revealing that she had carried a torch for Norman back when he was in his pomp. It isn't news first husband John Lloyd is likely to enjoy hearing. "I enjoyed watching Ballesteros, Nicklaus, but Greg always had that charisma," she said. "And he had that walk, in case you guys hadn't noticed. He's still in great shape. Good genetics!"

There was, then, plenty of incentive to get out of bed for Norman's 7.47am tee-off time yesterday. Even without the additional interest of Evert there was much to savour. Indeed, where to start? Seeing Norman walk that distinctive walk down the fairways felt as though one had been transported back to the 1980s. All we needed was Kenny Dalglish to jog past in a Crown Paints Liverpool kit and it could be an edition of Life on Mars) – or Life on Liverpool, at least.

Time even seemed to be a warped concept when it came to the case of Norman's caddie, Linn Strickler. Apparently he is only 58, but when he stood next to Norman he could have been his father. Still, the 111 years of experience they could drum up together worked a treat in what is becoming the oldies Open. Hey, isn't the Seniors competition next week?

Who cares. To paraphrase a theatre critic when describing Nicole Kidman's star role in the Blue Room a few years ago, Evert can consider herself pure golfing Viagra.