Greg Norman Golfer – Shark.com Golf Clothing Collection
Born on the 10th of February to Toni and Melvin Norman in Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia and nicknamed “The Great White Shark”, Greg Norman is a professional golfer and entrepreneur from Australia. He is one of the most successful in the game of golf and once held the position as the number one golfer according to Official World Golf Rankings in the 1980s and the 1990s. He occupied this position for a period of 331 weeks. As a professional golfer, Norman has taken part in a lot of tournaments and has emerged champion in 88 out of all these professional tournaments.
Included in these tournaments are two majors (The Open Championship in 1986 and 1993) and 20 PGA Tour tournaments. While the hallmark of Norman’s career as a professional golfer was emerging victorious in lots of tournaments that he participated in, there is more to his participation in professional tournaments. As a professional golfer, Norman was runner up 8 times and finished as top ten in 30 tournaments. Due to all his achievements as a professional golfer, he made it to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.
Although Norman ended up as a professional golfer, the game of golf was not the only game he participated in as a child. While still a youth, Greg Norman took part in cricket and rugby. He even nursed the idea of becoming a professional surfer. While he excelled in sporting activities generally, he started taking golfing seriously after his mother began teaching him to play the game at the age of 15. While learning to play golf from his mother, he also caddied for her while she took part in golfing activities at the Virginia Golf Club in Brisbane. Norman most likely chose golf over the other sports he had an interest in because of how well he excelled in golf. After playing golf for a period of eighteen months, Norman became a scratch handicap.
Live as a Professional Golfer
Norman began taking the game of golf seriously when he was fifteen and at 20, he had already become an assistant professional under Billy McWilliams OAM. This took place at Beverley Park Golf Club in Sydney, New South Wales. Still, at the age of 20, Greg Norman began working as a trainee under Charlie Earp in the Royal Queensland Golf Club pro shop. As a trainee, he earned A$38 on a weekly basis. One year after serving as a trainee under Charlie Earp, Norman took part in his first professional golf tournament. As a debutant, he got his first win at the West Lakes Classic which took place at the Grange Golf Club in Adelaide, South Australia. After his first win as a professional golf player, Norman went on to participate in his first European tour. His first victory in a European tournament was at the Martini International which took place at the Blairgowrie Club located in Scotland.
Greg Norman’s first major win came in the French Open. In this tournament, he emerged victorious by ten shots. This was followed by the Scandinavian Enterprise Open which was hosted in Sweden. His numerous victory did not end here. He went on to win the Suntory World Match Play Championship. Still, in 1980, he became a champion at the Australian Open for the first time.
After being a professional golfer for a fairly long time, Greg Norman took part in the 1987 Maters where he faced some challenges. He was at the verge of emerging champion of this tournament. However, his ball missed by some millimeters. That same year, however, he bounced back with a win at the Australian Masters, as well as a win in the Australian Open which took place the same year. At the Australian Open, Norman did not just emerge victorious, he broke a record and set a new one.
Business Endeavors
Greg Norman achieved a lot as a professional golfer. He, however, did not let his achievements end with the game of golf alone. While still an active golfer, Norman became a philanthropist and an entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Greg Norman started a firm called the Greg Norman Company. A firm which he plays the role of CEO. Greg Norman Company is a giant firm which is made up of lots of smaller firms. The firms that are a part of Greg Norman Company are in various sectors of the economy. Some of the fields they cover are golf course design, real estate, apparel interior design, etc.
As a philanthropist, Greg Norman has given to lots of charity events. In addition to giving towards charity events, Greg Norman has also set up a couple of charity events. Notable among these charity events is QBE Shootout. As a philanthropist, Norman is a Trustee of the Environmental Institute for Golf. He got into this position in 2004. Also, in 2008, he became a recipient of the Golf Writers Association of America’s Barlett Award in 2008.
Legacy and Achievements
Norman’s career as a professional golfer is not one that just successful because of the number of championships he won. It is also one that is successful because of the financial rewards that came with each win. As a notable achiever in the game of golf, Greg Norman was able to earn over $1 million on five different occasions just from the U.S PGA Tour. Still, from participating in the U.S PGA Tour, Norman earned three Arnold Palmer Awards due to the fact that he emerged the highest money winner in the tour in 1986, 1990, and 1995. That’s not all. Even more impressive is the fact that no golfer that took part in a tour was able to earn over $10 million until Greg Norman did so.
Although Norman was not excessively triumphant at the majors he took part in, he was still able to stay dominant over other golfers that played the game in his time. While he was not super-successful in majors, Norman ended the golf year as the most highly ranked golfer seven times. This occurred in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, and 1997.
