What Are Greg Norman's Chances at the 2009 Masters?

The 1986 Masters is best known for Jack Nicklaus’ incredible late Sunday charge, which is considered by many to be the most exciting two hours of golf ever seen.

At the age of 46, with his son Jackie on his bag, Nicklaus blistered Augusta National’s back-nine with a course record tying score of 30, giving him the clubhouse lead.

As we all know, Nicklaus wound up winning the 1986 Masters, which was one of, if not the most, memorable win of his immensely decorated career.

However, what few fail to remember is how a young Greg Norman all but handed Nicklaus the 1986 Masters on the 72nd hole.

Norman held the 54-hole lead, as he would do at every major championship in 1986.

After getting out to a slow start in his final round, Norman recorded birdies at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes and went to the 72nd hole needing a par to tie Nicklaus and force a playoff and a birdie to win his first green jacket.

After a perfectly struck three wood off the tee, Norman severely sliced his four-iron approach shot into the crowd lining the right side of the green and was unable to sink a 15-foot par putt to force a playoff with Nicklaus.

This was the first of three absolutely gut wrenching defeats Norman would suffer at Augusta over the course of his career.

The second came just a year later in 1987.

Norman was once again faced with a tournament winning putt on the 72nd hole.  Similar to what had happened just twelve months prior, Norman missed a ten footer for the win. 

Despite missing out on another opportunity to win the Masters on the 72nd hole, this time Norman was given a chance to redeem himself in a sudden death playoff with Larry Mize and Seve Ballesteros.

Obviously Norman could have avoided a playoff altogether had he sunk that putt on the 72nd hole.

However, no one could have foreseen what came next.

Ballesteros was eliminated on the first hole of the playoff and on the second hole, number 11 at Augusta National, Larry Mize actually chipped in from 45 yards to hand Norman his second devastating defeat at Augusta National in as many years.

The third came nine years later at the 1996 Masters and was perhaps the most astonishing collapse of his entire career.

Norman opened with a course record-tying 63 in his first round and held a six-stroke lead after 54 holes.

The local Augusta tailor was probably spending his Saturday night taking down Norman's measurements for the green jacket everyone expected him to be wearing on Sunday evening.

No one would have ever guessed that Norman would not win the 1996 Masters with a six-stroke cushion heading into the final round.

Norman went out on Sunday and shot a final round 78 to finish five strokes behind Nick Faldo.  It was the largest lead every blown in a major championship and many believe that Norman was never the same player after the '96 Masters.

In the coming years, Norman’s focus would shift almost solely to off-the-course business ventures that would make him an extremely wealthy man.

Norman got heavily involved in golf course design and through his Great White Shark Enterprises, he now dabbles in everything from a clothing line to restaurants to event production.  He even owns vineyards in Australia and California and produces a successful brand of Greg Norman Estates wine.

Norman slowly but surely placed competitive golf on the backburner during the late 90s and early 2000s.

That was, until he showed up to the 2008 British Open at Royal Birkdale as a tune up for the Senior British Open that was taking place the following week at Turnberry.

Norman’s trip over to Europe to compete in both the regular and Senior British Opens was partly a competitive golf trip but was mostly a belated honeymoon he was enjoying with his new wife, tennis star Chris Evert.  

No one, including Greg Norman himself would have in a million years thought that he would be holding the tournament lead with just nine holes to play in the British Open.

As we know, Harrington would go on to defeat Norman on the back-nine at Royal Birkdale and capture his second consecutive British Open title and the first of the two consecutive majors he would win to close out the 2008 season.

Norman obviously did not go into the 2008 British Open expecting to win; just making the cut probably altered his honeymoon plans.

But, despite being unable to hold off Harrington at Royal Birkdale, you could see in his eyes that the white shark had awoken from his slumber and genuinely enjoyed being back in contention at a major championship.

Norman’s second place finish at the 2008 British Open earned him an invitation to the 2009 Masters, and this time thing are different; this time Norman is actually preparing for the event.

Norman has played in the Johnny Walker Classic in Australia, where he finished tied for 123rd, a Champions Tour event at the end of March where he finished tied for 36th before taking part in last week’s Shell Houston Open as a final tune-up for the Masters.

After three rounds at the Shell Houston Open, 54-year-old Greg Norman was just four strokes off the lead before carding a final round 81 which moved him from 26th place back into a tie for 70th and raises the biggest question of them all as Norman heads to Augusta for the Masters.

Can Norman put together four consecutive rounds of great golf?

If you didn’t know any better, by appearance alone, you would think that Norman was in his mid-40s.  At 54-years-old he is that physically fit and at times his game is still sharp enough to compete with the top players on the PGA Tour.

Norman’s short-game is as good as ever and amazingly enough, he finished 42nd in driving distance at last week’s Shell Houston Open, which ranked in the upper third of the field.

A fantastic short-game and length off the tee is a must for anyone who hopes to compete at the new Augusta National which has been lengthened by more than 520 yards in the past ten years.

However, as is the case with most golfers who don't play as often as they once did, consistency is the one aspect of the game that is most difficult to re-capture, and Norman has experienced this a few times now.

At the 2008 British Open, Norman was unable to keep up his great play for four consecutive rounds and was thus overtaken by Harrington on the back-nine on Sunday.

Last week Norman also appeared to run out of gas during his final round where he finished with a double-bogey at the 17th and a triple bogey eight at the par-five eighteenth.

Is Norman still physically able to compete with the likes of Woods, Mickelson, Harrington Garcia, etc.?

Amazingly enough, Norman still seems to have the skill and physical ability to compete with the PGA Tour’s top players for a round or two…maybe even three.

However, Norman has yet to show an ability to string together four great rounds of golf, which, in this day and age, is a must for anyone with aspirations of winning a major championship.

That being said, we cannot overlook the fact that Norman was a mere nine holes away from winning the British Open less than a year ago.

If he were to somehow hold together his A-game for four straight rounds at Augusta, it is indeed possible for him to contend.

At 54 years old and with his heartbreaking history at the Masters, if Norman were to somehow find himself in contention on Sunday afternoon, it would rival Nicklaus' 1986 Masters win as one of the most heartwarming stories in the long and illustrious history of this storied event.