Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004040973
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: AUGUSTA, GA. LENGTH: Medium
From the clubhouse to the locker room to Rae's Creek, the name Greg Norman was reverberating.
"He's my pick," Curtis Strange said. `He's playing as well as I've ever seen him, plus he really wants it this year. He's pointing for it."
The master of the Masters, six-time winner Jack Nicklaus, agreed.
"Greg is confident and believes he's going to win," Nicklaus said. "Let me tell you, the Greg Norman of 1990 is not the Greg Norman of 1989."
Norman confessed that winning the Masters has become a "top priority" item.
"I've come so close here so many times," he lamented. "It's about time I win this thing.
"I think I've practiced more this year. No question about it, I feel a lot stronger. Plus, I'm a little older (35) and wiser. I've made some refinements in the way I approach the game."
Certainly, the Norman train is long overdue in Augusta.
It should have arrived in 1986, but a last-hole bogey gave Nicklaus a record sixth Masters triumph.
In 1987, Norman's train was derailed in a playoff, when hometown boy Larry Mize miraculously chipped in from 60 feet.
Last year, another 72nd-hole bogey rode Norman out of a playoff with eventual winner Nick Faldo and Scott Hoch.
Norman, who handles adversity as routinely as an uphill 2-footer, said he never peeks in his rear-view mirror.
"People can say what they want," the charismatic Australian said.
"They can say I choked or whatever. But I can put that stuff behind me. That's all history now."
Norman realizes he has to change some history in order to add a green jacket to his wardrobe.
"I've got to get off to a good start," said Norman, who has opened 73-77-74 in the first round the past three years on the 6,905-yard, par-72 tract.
"I don't know why that is. I've got to go out there with the same approach I have on Sundays," said Norman, who has closed 72-64-67 the past three years.
"I use the same approach I have on Sunday, but I don't know what happens. I wish I had the answer to that question.
"Everybody's written to me with different ideas. I get the Sunday paper on Thursdays, do stuff like that.
"Even my wife Laura has tried to figure out how to get me fired up on Thursday . . . and make me think it's Sunday.
"We've tried a few experiments, but we won't go into that," said Norman, breaking into laughter.
To laugh again late Sunday afternoon, Norman will have to beat the usual Masters favorites.
Behind Norman, the names being tossed around most are two-time Masters champion Seve Ballesteros, Mark Calcavecchia, Strange, Faldo and, yes, Nicklaus.
For a change, it seems all the top contenders are playing well coming to Augusta.
"After Greg, I think you have to look at Seve," Nicklaus said. "He's always tough here. He has all the shots you need to win here."
Calcavecchia, who birdied late to beat Norman in last year's British Open, comes to golf's cathedral on a roll, finishing second in his past three starts.
Like Norman, Strange also is looking for his first Masters title. The two-time defending U.S. Open champion admitted a Masters crown is the next jewel on his list.
And, like Norman, he knows what it's like to let one get away here. In 1985, the Virginian, in what he calls "the best example of me choking like a dog," blew a four-shot lead on the treacherous back nine.
"I'd like dearly to play well here," said Strange, who besides his second-place finish in '85, has never finished better than 12th here.
"But it's something you really can't press. You have to let it happen. If it happens, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't."
Nicklaus, meanwhile, yearns for just one more happening.
"That's the best golf I've played since the mid-70s," said Nicklaus, referring his easy triumph in his Senior Tour debut last week at Rancho Mirage, Calif.
"I hit the ball better than anytime in the '80s. It's all turned around for me in a matter of two weeks."
Norman said his Florida neighbor is a threat, even at age 50.
"He's acts like he's 35 or 40 again," Norman said. "He's playing great and hitting the ball extremely long. His confidence is high and he feels he can win the Masters.
"The thing is, Jack is still a great putter. That's the key right there. He can still bend over a 4-footer on a fast green and have the nerve to stroke it back. There's a lot of guys in their 30s and 20s that can't even do that."
Norman said he likes being paired with Nicklaus in today's first round.
"That should be to my advantage," Norman said. "I like playing with Jack. We play all the time together back in Florida."
Has Nicklaus offered Norman any advice on how to finally win the Masters?
"Hell no," Norman replied. "He thinks he can win."
by CNB