Golf

Norman: Don't call me a senior yet

Consecutive major championships on the Champions Tour showed more flashes of the Greg Norman of old rather than the old Greg Norman.

By BOB HARIG
Published August 2, 2005

The Great White Shark is 50, and the violent, aggressive golf swing was on full display as Norman finished third at the Senior British Open, missing a playoff by a stroke, then followed Sunday with a fourth-place finish by two strokes at the U.S. Senior Open.

Insert joke here about further shortcomings in major championships for Norman, but March back surgery and rehab left Norman feeling better than he has in years. And it showed.

Asked Sunday if he felt like a senior, Norman didn't hesitate.

"No, I feel like I'm still young enough to compete with the young guys, which is a good mind-set to have really," Norman told reporters at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio. "I still feel like I hit the ball far enough to get it out there. ... To say that I'm old and I'm a senior golfer, no, I don't want to say that."

And then he said the words that must hit Champions Tour tournament directors across the country like a ton of bricks: He'll only play the majors.

"I'm not planning on playing a lot of senior tour golf," he said. "I'm not going to play a regular senior tour event in the United States."

Disappointing, but not surprising.

Norman and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem have had their squabbles over the years, so the Shark isn't likely to do anything to help Finchem. He'll play for himself, and that likely means a smattering of Champions Tour majors and a few PGA Tour events.

He is scheduled to play this week's International and at the PGA Championship next week.

Unlike other seniors who can't wait for the comfort of 50-and-over life, Norman appears to want none of it.

But that has been the Champions Tour's luck of late.

Loren Roberts , who just turned 50 and contended at the British and U.S. Senior opens, is torn. "I still feel like I can be competitive on the (PGA) Tour," he said.

Jay Haas has shunned the Champions Tour for the two seasons he's been eligible, playing just seven times. Peter Jacobsen and Craig Stadler have juggled both tours. Fred Funk , who turns 50 in June, has a five-year PGA Tour exemption after winning the Players Championship in March. Guys who are playing great golf at 50 are opting to keep playing with the youngsters.

Norman, who won 20 PGA Tour titles, including two British Opens, is probably more remembered for his near-misses.

He is the only player in history to lose each of the four major championships in a playoff. He had the final-day meltdown at the '96 Masters. There were the Bob Tway and Larry Mize chip-ins.

But Norman was for a long time the game's most popular player, the one tournaments had to have. He also built an amazing business empire. So money is not the lure, which is why the Champions Tour holds little interest.

That's why weeks such as this one and next at the PGA Championship will be interesting. That is where Norman really wants to be when he's on a course.

WHAT NEXT FOR WIE: After another strong performance at a women's major, Michelle Wie is not expected to play again until October, just after her 16th birthday. Wie finished a distant tied for third at the Women's British Open on Sunday and said she will take time off to concentrate on her game and school.

Wie said she was unhappy with her putting during the tournament, and in truth, it kept her from being in contention on the final day at the U.S. Women's Open and from making the cut at the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic.

"I will be working a lot on my putting during the offseason so hopefully it will be better," she said. "I just couldn't read anything. I left so many putts out there and I feel a little disappointed by that."

Wie is not expected to play again until the Samsung World Championship in October. And there has been speculation that she will turn professional in time for that event.

"I haven't decided yet," said Wie, who returns to her junior year of school later this month. "I don't know if I will decide or how I'm going to decide (or) if I'm going to decide."

DENIED: The outgoing commissioner of the LPGA Tour is making it clear that if he is going to allow teenagers to compete as professionals, they must have a high school diploma.

Ty Votaw will not grant LPGA membership to In-Bee Park , who sought a waiver of the tour's 18-year-old minimum. Morgan Pressel , 17, of Boca Raton also was recently denied, although she will be allowed to compete at the tour's qualifying tournament this fall.

Park turned 17 in June and does not have the LPGA tournament experience of Pressel or Aree Song , who was granted membership early but also had graduated from high school. Park finished second last month at the U.S. Junior Girls Championship.

Park moved to Florida from South Korea at age 12 and now lives in Las Vegas.

[Last modified August 2, 2005, 03:00:22]