Norman: I Can Still Find A Way To Lose

Greg Norman became the oldest golfer ever to surrender a lead in a major tournament Sunday, dropping from first to a tie fort third on the final day of competition in the British Open at Royal Birkdale, and said he had never been happier about his play.

“Losing a tournament is like falling off a bike,” Greg Norman told a hastily arranged Southport, England news conference. “It’s in my blood. It’s what I do best. I’m proud that I am able to bring my legacy of losing into my sixth decade.”

Norman told reporters that anyone could win a golf tournament, especially a major tournament, now that Tiger Woods wasn’t on the scene. “But to lose a major? That takes a special set of skills, and only Phil Mickelson can challenge me in this arena.”

Norman took a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round, which he began with three straight bogeys. His additional three bogeys on the back nine all but insured defeat.

“Winning doesn’t impress me nearly as much as finding intriguing ways to lose,” Norman said.

The Australian golfer said that winning puts “too much pressure” on golfers to “keep on winning. The way golf is structured, you can make a million a year never being in contention, just making cuts and finishing in the top twenty or thirty. You don’t have a great big gallery following you around to distract you, the reporters aren’t wasting your time after you finish, and you can eat your meals in any public place without fear of autograph seekers. That’s my idea of successful golf.”

Norman said his “greatest regret” was winning the 1996 U.S. Open, which “exposed my game to a higher level of scrutiny than I considered desirable. They call me the Shark not because of the quality of my game but because I stay beneath the surface of the water. I thank my lucky stars that I did not actually win the Open. That would have been unbearable.”

Norman said his future plans include losing the U.S. Open this summer, Augusta next spring, and 10 to 12 unspecified events on the Champions Tour.