August 24, 2013. The Legendary Australian, Greg Norman attributed his stubbornness as a reason for his failure to live up to his on-course potential.
“I was a little stubborn,” said Norman. “I wanted to do things my way,” he was speaking at a CBS interview.
That stubbornness, prompted him to stick with an aggressive style of play even when caution would have been the better course.
“There wasn’t a shot I didn’t love,” 58-year –old Norman added.
Norman who stayed world no. 1 for 331 weeks, with 91 career wins and two British Open triumphs, he cut a swashbuckling figure wherever he played.
And yet, for many fans, the most enduring image of Norman’s career springs from his performance at the ’96 Masters, where he fell to Nick Faldo, relinquishing a six-shot lead on Sunday.
When Faldo embraced him on the 18th green, the golf world had its lingering Norman snapshot: what it showed was a toothless Shark.
However, if that’s how many fans remember Norman, that’s not how he chooses to remember himself. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Norman sees stubbornness and aggression, and who can blame him? That’s a prettier sports picture than the image of an athlete buckling under pressure.
“Sports is an interesting way of understanding a person’s psyche,” Norman explained.
In the CBS This Morning spot, Norman covered a range of subjects, including his success as a businessperson who has grown his name into a global brand.
“It’s amazing being the living icon,” Norman said.
When the white Shark was asked about Tiger Woods and his famous chase for the career-majors record. Norman said that Woods faces an ever-tougher challenge, in large part because he’s “losing his intimidation factor” — one of the greatest assets, he said, that an athlete has.
Then came another Woods-inspired question: Had a night on a bad mattress ever affected Norman’s golf swing in the same way it had affected Tiger’s?
Yes, Norman said, but “most of the time it’s the pillow.”
You’ve got to think that Norman has fine bedding. We all need things to help us sleep at night.
