The Masters Interview: Greg Norman

And your worst?

Probably hitting the four-iron to the eighteenth in 1986 instead of a five-iron [Norman missed the green and failed to get up and down, which would have forced a playoff with Jack Nicklaus]. The other bad loss was in ’96 [to Nick Faldo], when I had the six-shot lead. That was another of the bad ones. They’re probably about equal but for different reasons.

Tiger has announced that he’ll make his comeback at the Masters. Can you see him winning it, despite his lack of tournament preparation?

I wouldn’t say a lack of preparation. Tiger Woods at Augusta and going forward is going to be a different Tiger Woods. His world is different now. Has he hurt the game of golf? I truly believe he has to some degree. He has to be responsible. When you become the number one player in the world – and there’s only one number one – you have to be responsible for everything else that comes with that. So it’s good for Tiger to be back. Will he win? He’ll win again. Will he win the Masters this year? I don’t know, I can’t predict that. Will he be one of the favourites? Yeah, I think he’ll be one of the favourites because he loves it. Is it the right tournament for him to come back to? Yes, absolutely, because it’s a controlled environment. But his life is different now. There’s no question about it. Everywhere he goes he’s going to get scrutinized the whole way. Certain questions are going to be asked, even from the gallery as he walks from green to tee. He’s going to be exposed a lot more than he’s ever been exposed in his life, so it’ll be interesting to see how mentally he handles it. I think he’ll handle it fine. Time is a great healer in many ways but he’ll always be remembered for what happened – the hair trigger that ignited in November. Is it going to be over and done with for him? I don’t know. It’s going to be a tough battle for him.

When you were number one, were you aware of the responsibilities you had?

Absolutely. You know you’re carrying the weight of the game of golf and the country you represent when you’re number one. Everywhere you tee it up you’re responsible for putting bums on seats, for people turning on the television to watch you. It really permeates right through. You’re therefore responsible to your corporations, so yes you’re very much aware of it, even more so when you go beyond that and become the brand. He’s got his brand and he’s got his image and quite honestly he’s suffered. Hopefully he’s learnt the lessons from it. Nobody likes to see their private laundry aired out in front of everyone but you have to be aware of it. You enjoy it when it’s going the other way, but you have to accept the responsibility