Greg Norman Has A Blamestorming Session With His Ex-Wife
by Ryan Ballengee on Jul 27, 2009 6:02 PM EDT
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Greg Norman walked into the final round of the Senior British Open with lead at Sunningdale and spot in the final group. He shot 64 on Saturday to get into that position. Then, on Sunday, Norman failed down the stretch to catch Loren Roberts, Fred Funk, and Mark McNulty to get into a playoff. One back with two to play, Norman flat pushed his drive on the 17th into some serious English junkgrass. He took an unplayable lie and that was it for him.
Loren Roberts ultimately won the tournament - draining putts and getting up and down from everywhere.
Norman, usually gracious in defeat, was not so kind to his ex-wife. He was asked by the press if second wife Chrissy Evert's calming influence would have helped him win more major titles that got away from him. You know, the dozen or so that got away. Well, Norman agreed - and then threw his ex-wife under the bus.
From The Australian newspaper, with a how-do-you-do to Geoff Shackelford and Devil Ball Golf:
He was asked this: "Had Chrissie been in your life 20 years ago would you have won some of those that got away?"
Norman replied: "Chrissie would have instilled a different thought process and I would have said the answer would probably be 'yes'."
You gotta be kidding me. 88 global wins and two major championships with Laura. Since marrying Chrissy last June. Norman had his incredible run at Birkdale to finish third. He has missed but of his major championship cuts this season. His best finish is a T6 on the Champ Tour this year - at the Senior British Open.
Granted that Norman is now both 54 and a part-time player, a comparison is tough to make between his record with Laura and Chrissy. But, given his age, Norman could hypothetically be dominating the Champions Tour.
Blaming your ex-wife for a ton of your failures is one hell of a blamestorming session.
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I was not too crazy about Norman in 1989,
liked him even less in 1999 and have lost all respect for anything related to Greg Norman in 2009. I wonder what his kids are thinking this afternoon.
...from the land of pleasant living, Baltimore.
by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on Jul 27, 2009 6:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
no wonder I can’t get a job in the media – I just can’t come up with idiotic questions like that.
guess this guy didn’t notice that they are married now and he hasn’t won any majors with her, either.
read again – he didn’t blame Laura for any losses – he said that he thought Chrissy would have had him in a different mindset to win. completely different. if there has ever been someone qualified to teach someone to be self-centered, it would have been Evert. problem is, Norman was never that way – he had his hands in different businesses ventures and flying lessons…
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Jul 27, 2009 10:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I didn’t think the question was really appropriate, but I don’t think that Norman’s response was either.
In my mind, him saying that having Chrissy around instead of his then wife would’ve won him more majors is blaming his failures on Laura. Effectively, he’s not taking complete responsibility for what happened those ten or so times that a major got away from him.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jul 27, 2009 10:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
hey – come on – what’s a little bitterness between ex’s ? (lol) she was pretty brutal herself during the divorce.
back to college logic classes – you can’t prove a negative. he didn’t say that Laura did anything – and you can’t prove that Evert could have made a difference since she wasn’t there. (she was busy antagonizing John Lloyd, then sneaking around with Andy Mills)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Jul 27, 2009 10:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think this whole story is a misconception
How is it inappropriate to ask someone if they were nearby one of the greatest tennis champions in the history of the game if they would have benefited from their counsel?
Norman is making excuses more than anything. I don’t see him pointing his finger towards his ex-wife saying anything like “I would have won more if we had been happier at home.” That’s NOT what he’s saying at all. He is saying that had he been nearby Ms. Everett she might have given him a different outlook that he simply didn’t have at the time.
That’s like me saying that since I re-married I have adopted my wife’s financial strategies and it has worked out well for us. That’s a fact, it has. That says nothing about what my ex-wife is or is not. It does, however, say that I was on the wrong track before the current Mrs. Old Man Par and I merged our interests.
by Old Man Par on Jul 28, 2009 9:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
flux capacitor....fluxing...
Inappropriate because you’re meddling in a fairly recent divorce situation – it’s a cheesy, tabloid trick to get one person to say something bad about another person.
If Chris Evert was the answer to Norman’s problems – why didn’t he call her 20 years ago ? She was around.
It’s a ridiculous question that can’t be answered. Nobody knows what might have/would have happened if something had changed 20 years earlier. IF you can speculate that Evert MIGHT have put Norman over the top in a few more majors – why isn’t it equally valid to say that he might have withered on the vine like her other two husbands did ? John Lloyd was a top 15 tennis player – Andy Mills was a world class ski racer. My guess is that 20 years ago, had they met – Greg Norman wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with Chris Evert. She was mean as a snake.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Jul 28, 2009 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm Sick and Tired of Greg Norman Anyway
Maybe so, Court.
I still say he is making excuses, no matter how he couches it. Here’s why:
What’s one of the most glorious aspects of golf? That you hit your own ball and control its destiny. That implies taking responsibility for it, after all, it was you that sent it to its destination. Sure, rub of the green and all that, but at the end of the day, that’s what golf is all about: you versus the course.
In no case do the rules or spirit of the game say that your wife, your mistress, your best friend, your worst enemy, ANYONE control that ball except you.
Yet Mr. Norman once again fails to say that it was he himself who had shortcomings, that he himself withered at Augusta and at other tournaments that he could and very well should have won. Instead, it was not having Chris Everett around.
That right there is why I have never cared much for The Shark. He’s the most arrogant SOB in the world when he wins and the most snivelling excuse making weasel when he loses. And yes, Greg, YOU LOST to Faldo at the Masters and to too many others throughout your career. Do the math , eliminate all the variables and you will see that the one common denominator left is Greg Norman.
by Old Man Par on Jul 28, 2009 10:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Evert
Here’s one other way to look at it – and I KNOW you’re going to agree with this one…
You and your wife are talking to someone – and Joe Diplomat tosses out “Hey ! imagine how much better you’d be off in your career if you had married your present wife instead of marrying…whoever…first.”
Are you seriously going to tell me that you’re going to stand there with the woman you have to go home with tonight and said “nah – she was great – things couldn’t have been better back then.” Do you really enjoy sleeping on the couch that much ? :-D
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Jul 28, 2009 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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