all. I’ve been very lucky in many aspects of my life and I just hope it keeps going that way.’
One more try from the media: ‘Surely, it gets to a point when you say, “I’ve got to win this thing”?’ ‘No, it doesn’t. You guys are missing the point. Yes, there’s a lot of things you’d like to do in life that you probably will never, ever get a chance of doing. But you appreciate what you’ve done. And my career’s not over yet.
‘You guys are making this sound like this is my last time I’m ever going to get a chance to win in the Masters. But my golfing career is not over. I don’t feel like it has to be cast in stone that I have to win the Masters. We all would like to have things we’ve never had. And, obviously, I haven’t won the Masters, I haven’t won the US Open, I haven’t won the PGA. I’d like to have them all. You just have to chase that elusive rainbow, pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If you get it one day, you feel a great sense of satisfaction.’
Norman was right, it was not his last chance at seeking his pot of gold at Augusta, or rather, a green jacket. But the magic never happened. He did get to put on a jacket and tie for the now-discontinued International Players Dinner on the Monday night but it is the green variety that is required for the Past Champions Dinner on Tuesday night. Defending champion Crenshaw was the host and served up a Texas barbecue in contrast to Olazábal’spaella and tapas the previous year. There were 27 former winners present for the 1996 dinner, including 81-year-old Herman Keiser, who won 50 years earlier in 1946.
Following their duels in 1993, Norman and Faldo had not collided again in the eight major championships since. Both players had tied for fourth at the 1994 US PGA but were out of contention and finished eight strokes behind Nick Price. By dint of also having won the Open at Turnberry a few weeks earlier, the Zimbabwean became the new world number one but his major tally of three stalled there.
No other players had truly established themselves as dominant major contenders, although Colin Montgomerie had managed to lose two playoffs in the previous two years. Perhaps the most significant win around this time came from Ernie Els at the 1994 US Open at Oakmont, where he beat Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in extra holes and Curtis Strange declared the 24-year-old South African was the ‘next god of golf’. Els had a good chance to win a second title at the 1995 US PGA, but did not even make the playoff in which Steve Elkington defeated Montgomerie.
Elkington then had the only set of clubs he had used throughout his professional career stolen from his car and his form had dipped, so the winner of the last major was not thought a likely contender at Augusta. The other major champions from an eclectic couple of years were Olazábal, who missed the 1996 Masters while suffering from rheumatoid polyarthritis, Crenshaw, who was just as out of form as the year before, Corey Pavin and John Daly, who had beaten Costantino Rocca in a playoff to win the 1995 Open at St Andrews.
Faldo was no better than 24th in any of the majors in 1995 and while Norman lost out to Pavin at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, he won the money list on the PGA Tour for only the second time in his career and regained the world number one crown from his friend Price. Bookmakers in Las Vegas were quoting Norman as the narrow favourite for the 1996 Masters but in London Fred Couples led the betting following his victory at the Players Championship.
For many years until 2006, the Players was the anchor event of the Florida swing of tournaments in March and the main warm-up event for the Masters, played two or three weeks earlier. Defying years of back problems since winning the Masters in 1992, Couples charged to victory at Sawgrass with an eagle at the 16th hole thanks to an approach shot that bounced the right way off the bank by the water and a 30-foot putt. He then
One more try from the media: ‘Surely, it gets to a point when you say, “I’ve got to win this thing”?’ ‘No, it doesn’t. You guys are missing the point. Yes, there’s a lot of things you’d like to do in life that you probably will never, ever get a chance of doing. But you appreciate what you’ve done. And my career’s not over yet.
‘You guys are making this sound like this is my last time I’m ever going to get a chance to win in the Masters. But my golfing career is not over. I don’t feel like it has to be cast in stone that I have to win the Masters. We all would like to have things we’ve never had. And, obviously, I haven’t won the Masters, I haven’t won the US Open, I haven’t won the PGA. I’d like to have them all. You just have to chase that elusive rainbow, pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If you get it one day, you feel a great sense of satisfaction.’
Norman was right, it was not his last chance at seeking his pot of gold at Augusta, or rather, a green jacket. But the magic never happened. He did get to put on a jacket and tie for the now-discontinued International Players Dinner on the Monday night but it is the green variety that is required for the Past Champions Dinner on Tuesday night. Defending champion Crenshaw was the host and served up a Texas barbecue in contrast to Olazábal’spaella and tapas the previous year. There were 27 former winners present for the 1996 dinner, including 81-year-old Herman Keiser, who won 50 years earlier in 1946.
Following their duels in 1993, Norman and Faldo had not collided again in the eight major championships since. Both players had tied for fourth at the 1994 US PGA but were out of contention and finished eight strokes behind Nick Price. By dint of also having won the Open at Turnberry a few weeks earlier, the Zimbabwean became the new world number one but his major tally of three stalled there.
No other players had truly established themselves as dominant major contenders, although Colin Montgomerie had managed to lose two playoffs in the previous two years. Perhaps the most significant win around this time came from Ernie Els at the 1994 US Open at Oakmont, where he beat Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in extra holes and Curtis Strange declared the 24-year-old South African was the ‘next god of golf’. Els had a good chance to win a second title at the 1995 US PGA, but did not even make the playoff in which Steve Elkington defeated Montgomerie.
Elkington then had the only set of clubs he had used throughout his professional career stolen from his car and his form had dipped, so the winner of the last major was not thought a likely contender at Augusta. The other major champions from an eclectic couple of years were Olazábal, who missed the 1996 Masters while suffering from rheumatoid polyarthritis, Crenshaw, who was just as out of form as the year before, Corey Pavin and John Daly, who had beaten Costantino Rocca in a playoff to win the 1995 Open at St Andrews.
Faldo was no better than 24th in any of the majors in 1995 and while Norman lost out to Pavin at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, he won the money list on the PGA Tour for only the second time in his career and regained the world number one crown from his friend Price. Bookmakers in Las Vegas were quoting Norman as the narrow favourite for the 1996 Masters but in London Fred Couples led the betting following his victory at the Players Championship.
For many years until 2006, the Players was the anchor event of the Florida swing of tournaments in March and the main warm-up event for the Masters, played two or three weeks earlier. Defying years of back problems since winning the Masters in 1992, Couples charged to victory at Sawgrass with an eagle at the 16th hole thanks to an approach shot that bounced the right way off the bank by the water and a 30-foot putt. He then
Similar Books
