Greg Norman is one of golf’s great characters and love him or hate him, there is no denying his impact on the game over the years.
A two-time major winner and one of golf’s biggest nearly men as well – he finished 2nd seven times in the other majors outside The Open – he has also gone on to impact the game with his role at LIV Golf.
However, looking at him purely as a golfer, his story in the majors is one to look back on with fondness.
Going into The Open in 1986, Norman had already come up short twice that year at The Masters and the PGA Championship, finishing 2nd both times to Jack Nicklaus and the lesser known Bob Tway.
Norman, of course, finally got things done at The Open in ’86 and speaking on his win that day, he revealed just what Nicklaus did as he walked off the 18th.
Greg Norman says what Jack Nicklaus did when he won his first Open
Everyone who follows golf knows that Jack Nicklaus is a man full of class and integrity when it comes to the game we all love.
He might have won 18 majors, but he is also used to coming up short having finished 2nd a record 19 times in the big four.
Nevertheless, as Norman explained in a past interview, Nicklaus made sure he was the first man Norman saw when he did finally win in ’86.
“I was relieved to get through the gallery, it was crazy then. Everyone is smashing you on the back and congratulating you and people’s exuberance, you can feel it,” Norman explained.
“Jack was actually the first guy to come down and congratulate me. He came down from the TV tower and I hadn’t even signed my score card and he reached down and congratulated me by the stairs.
“I was definitely relieved. That’s what you practice for. You hope those moments come, you hope they continue to come but then you realise that looking at the scoreboard, and to remember who was on the board, the who’s who of golfers were right behind me. They all want to win too and if you can come out ahead of them a few more times, that’s what it’s all about.”
Why Greg Norman called Jack Nicklaus a hypocrite
Despite the show of respect here between Norman and Nicklaus 40 years ago, sometimes things happen in golf which causes a change in attitude.
As we know, Norman was instrumental in setting up LIV Golf and left himself wide open to critics in doing so. Indeed, according to Nicklaus himself, he and Norman disagreed from minute one on LIV’s ambitions.
“Let me just sum this up with a couple of words,’’ Nicklaus said. “First of all, Greg Norman is an icon in the game of golf. He’s a great player. We’ve been friends for a long time, and regardless of what happens, he’s going to remain a friend. Unfortunately, he and I just don’t see eye-to-eye in what’s going on. I’ll basically leave it at that,” Nicklaus said.
However, never one to back down, Norman hit back at Nicklaus.
“Jack’s a hypocrite,’’ Norman said. “When he came out with those comments, I’m thinking: Jack must have a short memory.’’
“Quote-unquote, he said: ‘This is good for our game. If it’s good for the game of golf, it’s good by me’. “So you want the facts? You’ve got the facts. Know what you said before you open your mouth.’’
Clearly, this is one example of the strain LIV has caused on the game.
Hopefully, both Norman and Nicklaus are now past this sort of behaviour and as Nicklaus says, remain good friends.
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