When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
The New York Post’s Nicki Gostin handles the big picture, well, better than most details. Also for non-Gram users, their hefty roundup of the best comments is below. Though you can always “view comments” on the post and see the comedic best of humanity in these dark times.
Yahoo’s Ryan Young says “one lucky fan has secured the most iconic trophy in golf” and he’s right. However, the paltry $61,164 at auction price for Greg Norman’s 1986 replica version on Saturday night suggests the golf memorabilia market has understandably softened.
While it’s not the real Claret Jug — that trophy travels from winner to winner each year — winners receive a full-size personalized replica to commemorate their win. They can also order up to three smaller replicas.
There are three other replica trophies, too, two of which are used for traveling exhibitions and one that remains at the British Museum of Golf at St. Andrews.
This Claret Jug is just the latest to be auctioned off in recent years. Per the listing, Sam Snead’s 1946 trophy was sold for $262,900 in 2013, and Mark Calcavecchia’s 1989 trophy sold for $95,525.
The Claret Jug had left Norman’s hands some time ago and was with a collector, according to Golden Age Golf Auctions.
This sterling silver Claret Jug and its bands have matching English hallmarks from 1982 by famed Garrard & Co., the keepers of the Crown Jewels from 1843-2007. The bands are engraved with the names of all Open Champions up to Greg Norman's victory in 1986. Garrard was the Royal & Ancient's official producer of the Claret Jug in the 1980s. To our knowledge, the original owner of this Claret Jug had no ties to Greg Norman. Rather, it comes from the Estate of an avid collector of sterling silver pieces from Garrard (to our uninformed American collectors, Garrard is essentially the British version of Tiffany & Co.) with a special interest in horse racing and golf.
**Update, bidding was extended and it still went for less than Calcaveccia’s.
Greg Norman knew we needed some 80’s schmaltz to laugh at, I think. Posting this doozy of a commercial for Swan Lager, and while the theme song is cringe worthy and potentially harmful to your mental well-being in these trying times, it’s worth the risk.
And do note the re-creation of Norman’s win at Turnberry, down to the Lyle & Scott yellow sweater along with a Tommy Nakajima stand in. Spectacular stuff!
No matter what anyone says we all can make it! Sending positive vibes to all today, we WILL get through this chaos. Hope this lightens your day. Be safe, smart, and above all stay healthy. #TBT pic.twitter.com/RozVQV8N0i
— Greg Norman (@SharkGregNorman) March 26, 2020
Greg Norman is a bit miffed at Rory McIlroy’s “out” declaration related to the Premier Golf League. And naturally, because it’s the Shark, it really has little to do with the positives and negatives of the proposed tour.
Josh Sens caught up with Norman in Mexico and taking time away from finding his biggest fan—hit the link if you thought April 1 had arrived early this year—and Norman seemed to take McIlroy’s invocation of Arnold Palmer personally.
With a TV deal in place and the support, Norman believed, of many players, the concept seemed to have legs. But it foundered in the face of savvy PGA Tour maneuvering and vocal opposition from the King. Shortly after Norman announced his plan for the global series, Palmer came out publicly against it. Norman, who had what he describes as a close relationship with Palmer, was devastated.
“I was blindsided, I felt backstabbed,” Norman said. “I’m listening to Arnold, with [then-PGA Tour commissioner] Tim Finchem standing beside him, chest puffed out for a 5-foot-4 guy, and I’m thinking, ‘Are you kidding? Why are you saying this?’”
Well, he could be an intimidating 5’4”…
Anyway, he goes on to say IMG planted the negative thoughts with Palmer to go against the Tour and accuses McIlroy of taking his stance against the PGL as part of his Golfpass/Golf Channel relationship ala the King back in 1994.
But other than that, he’s really worked through any lingering issues over the World Tour effort…of 25 years ago.
Yes, he takes his shirt off way too often for a grown man and sees himself as the living brand. He’s also not good with a hedge trimmer in his hand.
But one thing I’ve heard repeatedly upon news of a hostile world tour concept surfacing: Greg Norman was ahead of his time. And we all know Tim Finchem took those ideas in the early 1990s, maybe outplayed Norman, and the PGA Tour adapted with the World Golf Championships.
But as the World Golf Group pushes an individual and team concept, fans and media are trying to wrap their heads around what it all means. Golf.com’s James Colgan talked to Greg Norman after the Shark’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia where he praised the concept but was light on what exactly he saw as smart about the Premier Golf League.
Turns out, he’s been briefed and likes it way more than he initially let on. Some of the quotes from Colgan’s story will not go over well parts of northern Florida.
“Why would they rule it out when you actually look at the financials?” Norman asked. “If you’re a player, my gosh, you’re a professional, so you play golf for a living to make money. When you see the compelling numbers that are in front of these guys, you wonder: how could you not pay attention?”
And so far, not one player of note has been able to completely rule out the proposals as worth considering.
As for the notion of 12 founding team owners who get to enjoy an investment (or sell it) after their playing days?
“The whole concept of owning a team, I think that’s brilliant,” he said. “So, as you fade away as a top player, you still own a team, like Formula 1. The whole idea of owning a team is something I wish I’d thought about in my concept.”
When you get the Shark admitting he hadn’t thought of something, you know you’re onto something.
There is also this comment related to the focus on the must-have stars and the need for this to work now, or never.
“I’m not talking about the players very much, and that’s because, if the concept is right, the players will always be there,” he said. “These guys are pass-through entities. The Tiger Woods’ of the world, the Rory McIlroy’s, the Koepka’s, the Dustin Johnson’s. These guys are eventually going to move on in time. But the concept is not.”
He also mentioned this about the primary funders, the Raine Group.
“There are smart people behind this. The Raine Group, they’re Wall Street geniuses,” Norman said. “They’re not doing this to give away money, they’re doing this to get a return on their investment.”
Few refute that Greg Norman’s vision for a world tour was shrewd, but as he noted in comments Sunday, he did not have all of the pieces of the pie aligned.
This makes Norman’s suggestion that the World Golf Group’s proposed tour having “more legs” eye-opening. (That Norman is not involved but still complimenting the idea is notable. Then again he knew who his hosts were in Saudi Arabia, rumored investors in the league.)
From The Scotsman’s Martin Dempster, reporting on the Golf Saudi Summit in King Abdullah Economic City.
"It’s just a matter of getting all the right components together, whether players stay together," said the 64-year-old as he reflected on his own bid, which he tried to push through at a time when he was the world No 1.
"With my original concept, some players loved it and others didn’t like it. I had corporate, I had television, but you need 100 per cent of the pie to be together before we can bake it. From what I’m seeing here, this one has every chance of getting off the ground."
And this is particularly noteworthy given the sense players will not defect.
“Today is that way for sure now. Restraint of trade is not as prevalent - you can’t do it basically in this day and age - so that’s why this one probably has a little more legs.”
IWhy anyone gets in a spat with Brooks Koepka and thinks they’ll win, I have no idea.
But here are details of Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau’s escalating ab spat, well documented here by the Golf.com Fortnight/DeChambeau monitoring squad. For those over 40, just go with it.
And if you really don’t care, everything you need to know about Bryson and Brooks’s second public spat, is summed up here:
You were right @b_dechambeau I am 2 short of a 6 pack! pic.twitter.com/aCJ1jimId6
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) January 16, 2020
All of this talk of golfers and their abs appears to have awoken the Shark to return to his past—ok, it’s been three months since his last shirtless shot.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Greg Norman (@shark_gregnorman) on
I’m so glad we did this exclusive extra recording after the show to discuss this complicated, but not complicated story of massive egos. That’s Damon Hack, Anna Whitely, Robert Damron and myself:
Thanks to exclusive recycle-bin scavengers in the greater Jupiter area, I’ve been able to piece together the post-Masters congratulatory note delivered to Tiger Woods by Greg Norman.
Norman admitted in Men’s Health that even after delivering to Woods’ security guard and identifying himself, Tiger has not thanked Norman for the thank you correspondence.
Forensic evidence suggests one of Woods’ staffers used the note to pick up defecation by the family pet, therefore handwriting experts are still working to confirm if the note was penned by Norman. However, several clinical psychiatrists can verify that it suggests the trademark signs of a note penned by a right-handed older male who wears copious amounts of sunscreen, may have once suffered a severe hand-injury trimming shrubs, and exhibits narcissistic tendencies.
Working through some of the pet stains, here is the best possible interpretation of the note:
Mate!
What a performance at the Masters! Congratulations from a fellow gym rat, living brand and member of the Major Club.
Look, I know we’ve had our moments and I’m ready to let bygones by bygones. Like, when I declared you’d never win another major, or when I said that I’d hate to see golf get lost again in that Tiger talk, or how ratings are up because you brought in new fans who really took to all of the young guys, or when you were looking intimidated by Rory, or that I defended Stevie Williams, or that I criticized The Match. All of that was fake news (well, except The Match part. That thing stunk!).
What isn’t fake is that my 285-foot yacht measuring 130 feet longer than yours with a fantastic wine cellar. Kirsten and I would love to have you and the lady friend over some time, maybe share some war stories about finishing off a win or where you see the equities market over the next five years. Guy-to-guy, man-to-man talk about how to be better than the guy you were yesterday.
Reach out any time. I know you have my mobile, or just DM me on Instagram, that’s where I spend most of my time these days,
Shark
PS: I’ve also got a golf cart that’s going to change the game and would love to take you on a spin around my property, which Zillow says it just a bit bigger than yours and way more valuable. Just saying, you have to see for yourself!
The image of Greg Norman driving up to Tiger Woods’ home and delivering a congratulatory note following the 2019 Masters win is, in itself, kind of funny. The likelihood that Woods’ guard might not have known who it was, is just that much juicier.
Either way, the Shirtless Shark complained to Men’s Health about Tiger not acknowledging his note, even though Norman has not said the nicest things about Woods in recent years.
So much to unpack in this answer to a question about the lack of “bond” between the two:
Yeah, look, I’m happy to clear that up for you. Like, when you ask me a question, I’m going to give you an honest answer. I’m not going to bullshit to you. I’m also going to draw on my experience of the past in terms of what Jack Nicklaus did for me, what Arnold Palmer did for me . . . where there was that respect handed off from the generation before you. It’s a code of conduct in a lot of ways.
Oh boy…
Very few people know this: when Tiger won the Masters this year, I wrote him a handwritten note and drove down my road, maybe a quarter of a mile, and hand-delivered it to his guard at his gate. I said, “Hey, this is Greg Norman here. I’ve got a note for Tiger – can you please hand-deliver it to him?” Well, I never heard a word back from the guy. When I won my first major championship, Jack Nicklaus was the first person to walk down out of the TV tower and congratulate me. I don’t know – maybe Tiger just dislikes me.
I think you’re getting warmer!
I have no idea. I’ve never had a conversation with him about it. I’ve always been respectful about what his father did for him.
Oh?
I played nine holes with him at his father’s and IMG’s request when Tiger was 14 or 15 and I was the No. 1 player in the world, to give an assessment of this kid. So, I have always been willing.
Willing to…capitalize?
Greg Norman has been a consistent advocate for a golf ball that spins more. But unlike his recent shift away from shirtless Instagram posts, he has remained consistent on the distance matter.
And now he’s responding to Instagram posts on the hot button topic that became popular again as PGA Tour pros made a mockery of 7,600 yard Medinah.
This is the Shark we know has the game’s best interests at heart:
Greg Norman’s propensity to post shirtless photos on Instagram is well known, even when he’s nearly cut his arm off trimming hedges or after scintillating jabs like this one from Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch:
Bulletproof self-belief has been the hallmark of many a Masters champion, men with the ability to temper emotion and summon clarity, even in the midst of a thrilling, chaotic shootout. That character trait is why Jack Nicklaus owns six green jackets, why Woods has five, why Nick Faldo has three, and why Greg Norman is often naked on Instagram.
And based on the former Fox announcer’s most recent post, you know he was working with extra talented stylists and applicators of products when he thanks the team: “And thank you all for making my 2 weeks in Alaska not noticeable.
Soon after, Norman announced new efforts to grow his bank account under the grow the game moniker. Last we heard on this front he was consulting China’s Olympic team, rolling out revolutionary golf cart technology that included actual speakers for listening to music, but now, the gruesome, revolting and morally bankrupt “Kingdom” of Saudi Arabia:
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Greg Norman (@shark_gregnorman) on
Judging by the comments so far, even many of his remaining believers are curious if all those days in the hot sun have finally gone to his head.
High-tech Golf Cart Purveyor, former Fox golf analyst and Living Icon Of The Brand is making the rounds to promote something and as he’s prone to do, is reminding us of his eternal youth by expressing not one, but two mildly confusing thoughts.
Dan Kilbridge sums up the thoughts for Golfweek from this Yahoo podcast with Dan Roberts where Florida’s worst hedge sheerer admitted some admiration for Tiger’s miraculous 2018 comeback but expressed concern “that Tiger talk” is overshadowing the only people who matter, the children of tomorrow.
Greg Norman:
“I think he’s done an excellent job going from where he was a year ago,” Norman said. “Massive leap, quite honestly, in 12 months. God bless him. He did everything right, stepped up to the plate and won. It’s good for him, there’s no question, it’s good for the game of golf, no question. But I hope they don’t put all their eggs in one basket again and be all Tiger and forget about all this other wonderful, fantastic talent even coming out of Korea and Japan and South Africa and Australia. Unbelievable amount of talent bubbling up around the world, and I’d hate to see them get lost again in that Tiger talk.”
If they beat him, or prove as compelling, won’t that Tiger talk subside?
This was special:
Norman said his favorite players to watch include Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth and Francesco Molinari.
“I see a really good base of great, young talent there today and a lot of those guys today (are) unintimidated by Tiger,” Norman said.
I’m going to put Norman down for not having reviewed the Tour Championship tape.
Norman’s thoughts on ratings seemed to contradict his above stated views.
“TV ratings are up because of what Tiger Woods does to every other player,” Norman said. “It’s not just about the one player, it’s about all the supporting cast who are equal if not better than him. He’s just pulling them along to make them more standout.”
So yes ratings are flat or up, a victory in the currrent sports market, because of Tiger even when he doesn’t play. By this logic, then Tiger is bringing more notoriety to the others and this is a negative how, exactly?
It's always enlightening to get Greg Norman's finger-on-the-pulse take, especially when he's out front promoting his nude photo spread for ESPN's Body Issue. Since I know you're all anxiously awaiting the issue's arrival on your doorsteps, maybe this three minutes will make the wait less agonizing (embed code not working.)
The President of the United States was also quite pleased with the appearance and the Living Brand's physical appearance:
Just watched @SharkGregNorman on @foxandfriends. Said “President is doing a great job. All over the world, people want to come back to the U.S.” Thank you Greg, and you’re looking and doing great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2018
Rory McIlroy trying to tee off in round 3 at the Travelers. Squirrel!
Hosung Choi made a nice run at one of two Open Qualifying Series spots available in the Korean Open before a Sunday flameout. This would have been fun to see at Carnoustie:
GolfBalled suggests Greg Norman had a body double for the ESPN body issue shoot. I'll let you be the judge:
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
