AS A two-time Open champion, Greg Norman shouldn't need any advice about how to finish off the job over the weekend, writes Phil Johnson.
The Great White Shark was two shots clear at the halfway mark in 1986 before going on to win the Claret Jug at Turnberry by a whopping five shots.
Anyone convinced that Norman will fade away this weekend should bear in mind the similarities betw
een the story so far at Royal Birkdale and the way the championship unfolded on the Ayrshire coast 22 years ago.
Jack Nicklaus, no less, was among those who complained in 1986 that the Ailsa had been set up too severe by the Royal and Ancient. The great man finished on 18 over par.
Strong winds, narrow fairways and thick rough posed a test so severe many of the big names reckoned it was unfair. Norman was one of the most outspoken critics of the slender fairways, but on the course he was in the zone. In the wind, he is a master.
After opening with a steady 74, four over par, he blitzed round in just 63 blows to shoot to the top of the leaderboard and take a two-shot lead into the weekend.
Had he taken two putts rather than three on the final green, the Australian would have been the first man to post a 62 in the Open championship. Not that he knew anything about it. "I don't play for records," he said. "I just try to shoot the lowest number I can, and far from thinking about a 62, I was after a 61. Indeed, when I saw how close I was at the 17th I felt a 60 could be on."
Norman carded a 74 on Saturday and began his final round with a one-shot lead. He closed it out emphatically, posting a one-under-par 70 to win by five from Gordon Brand on level-par 280. Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros were all inside the top six, but none could match Norman.
As it turned out, he led all four majors after the three rounds in 1986, but only managed to win the Open.
He did, of course, lift the Claret Jug for a second time in 1993, finishing two clear of Faldo at Royal St George's.
The full article contains 399 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
