Faldo/Norman (34 page)

Norman hit a huge drive past the bunkers but, typical of his day, missed the green on the right fringe. As both men climbed the hill towards the green and the clubhouse, a deep-blue, late-afternoon sky above, the atmosphere remained muted, polite applause greeting the victor and vanquished. Faldo acknowledged the gallery with measured waves of the hand. ‘He took those final steps quietly, giving only the smallest of nods, keeping his head low,’ wrote Malcolm Gladwell in his
New Yorker
essay ‘The Art of Failure’. ‘He understood what had happened on the greens and fairways that day. And he was bound by the particular etiquette of choking, the understanding that what he had earned was something less than a victory and what Norman had suffered was something less than a defeat.’

‘It was a weird sensation,’ Faldo wrote in
Life Swings
, ‘for having won my previous two Masters on the 11th green in playoffs, I had always dreamed of marching up the 18th at Augusta with my arms raised in triumph knowing I had won the title. With Greg being such a popular competitor, the crowd were understandably confused about how to react; on the one hand they wanted to treat the vanquished with the respect worthy of a great champion, on the other hand they wanted to whoop and holler at such an unlikely victor.

‘I could sense the waves of sympathy pouring down upon Greg from the bleachers as I made my way up the fairway, so it would have been entirely inappropriate to engage in any demonstration of triumphalism. I tried to acknowledge the cheers in a dignified manner, with a smile and a nod of the head, but inside I was exultant for the 18th green at Augusta is a sight like no other – the greenest of grass, the whitest of bunkers, the bluest of skies, the clubhouse shimmering in the distance.’

Norman putted up just short of the hole and holed out for a four. He had scored a 78. He had opened the week by equalling
the course record with a 63. Each day after that his score had got higher but on the second and third days his lead had extended regardless. But not on the final day. Only seven players scored as high or higher, and five of them were, or would be, Masters champions.

Jack Nicklaus, Bernhard Langer, Craig Stadler and John Daly all had 78s, Woosnam and Alex Cejka had 80s and Vijay Singh had an 82. On seven under par, Norman finished alone in second place, one ahead of Phil Mickelson, who had a 72 on Sunday, and two ahead of Frank Nobilo, whose fourth place was his best ever major result. Norman had hit only eight of the 18 greens in regulation: he was in the water twice, at the 12th and 16th holes; did not save par from sand twice, at the 1st and the 4th; could not get up and down from off the green at the 9th and the 10th; and three-putted the 11th. He made three birdies but these were more than wiped out by the five bogeys and two double bogeys.

There was only one stroke left to be played in the 60th Masters, Faldo finishing it with a single putt for his sixth birdie of the day. He raised his arms above his head, wanting to enjoy the moment even though his first thoughts were not of his victory but for his opponent. He put his arm round Fanny Sunesson, then remembered to take his ball out of the cup. He marched towards Norman, looking all stiff and angular as any unemotional Brit is meant to be. But as Faldo took Norman’s hand he did something that surprised everyone, including the Australian and perhaps even himself: Faldo wrapped Norman into a bear hug.

Faldo had always been the very opposite of unemotional, but he just never found the right way to express those emotions, either keeping them locked up or losing it a bit, Muirfield style. Here he did it perfectly. ‘The Hug’ changed perceptions about Faldo, showing him in a new light. Even when Norman briefly uncoupled to kiss Sunesson, Faldo pulled him back so they started to leave
the green with their arms round each other’s shoulders. Only at the last minute did Faldo break away to turn back to the crowd and salute them.

‘Throughout the long round, while Greg Norman had fallen deeper into the abyss, Faldo had maintained a composure that could not fairly be described as robotic control, but was that of an ordinary man with an extraordinary talent, thinking clearly under the most terrible pressure, and retaining, through it all, enough humanity and humility to understand what Norman was going through and to react with compassion and grace,’ wrote Lauren St John in a profile entitled ‘The New Man’ for
Golf World
a few months later. ‘It is ironic that the major that Nick Faldo least expected to win may be the one that earns him love, not just respect, and the only thing he has ever wanted: greatness.’

A year later, Al Barkow wrote in
Golf World
(US). ‘The hug Nick Faldo gave Greg Norman on the 18th green at the conclusion of last year’s Masters was one of the warmest gestures ever seen in golf. No matter that the hugger and the huggee were evasive about what was said between them during that embrace. The hug was enough, and beyond mere good sportsmanship. It said much about empathy, sympathy, the depth of human feelings. That the hug was clearly initiated by Faldo made it surprising to many. Here was a champion athlete whose public image was that of an icy, emotionless, totally absorbed mechanic at work – Robo-Pro. So sharply etched was that image, you might wonder if the hug was not so much thoughtful as thought out, that it was a preconceived act. “Oh no,” says Faldo, taken slightly aback at that suggestion. “You don’t plan something like that.” ’

‘It was very special,’ Norman said afterwards. ‘I’m not going to tell you what he said. It was a very emotional thing. There were tears in our eyes. I’m going to leave it up to him if he wants to tell you. He’s gone way up in my estimation.’

When Faldo was asked what he had said that had so moved Norman, the Englishman said: ‘If he didn’t, I’m not going to tell you.’ Told Norman had said it was up to him, Faldo added: ‘I just said, “I don’t know what to say. I just want to give you a hug.” Simple as that. There’s a few other bits but you ain’t going to know.’

Essentially, it was this: ‘Don’t let the bastards get you down.’ Norman wrote in
The Way of the Shark
: ‘He didn’t have to point at the media centre. I knew exactly what he was talking about. He was genuinely concerned about how I would handle what happened that day, and how others would handle it. That gesture on the 18th green by Nick Faldo was pure class.’

As Norman headed for the media centre, Faldo made for the Butler Cabin and the television presentation of the green jacket. ‘I am genuinely sorry for Greg,’ he told the Augusta National vice-chairman, Joe Ford. ‘Credit to the Masters for what you put us through out there. You had to play precise golf.’ Ben Crenshaw, the 1995 champion, handed Faldo the jacket (Faldo’s own, in fact, since he already had one) and said: ‘Congratulations, it was a magnificent round of golf.’ Jim Nantz, the CBS host and now Faldo’s partner on the Masters telecast, told the champion: ‘I’ve been in here for all three of your victories and each time there has been so much passion and emotion, your voice cracking.’ Faldo replied: ‘Well, it’s kind of tricky out there, it gets to you.’

Norman took a conscious decision in the recorder’s hut not to scurry away into the night like a couple of players he could think of. He declined to name them to sports reporter, Jimmy Roberts, but did tell him: ‘I thought to myself that I ain’t going to be that guy. I’ve got to suck it up. I’m going to take my medicine.
The best thing I did was go straight into the press conference.’ So he arrived in the interview room and stayed there until every last question, every last way of asking basically the same thing, had been asked. ‘Well, I played like shit,’ he opened up. ‘I don’t know. That’s probably the best way of putting it. With all my mistakes today, I didn’t do the right things. Nick did a good job and I really just got a good old ass-whipping.’

How does it feel? ‘Of course, I’m very disappointed. Of all of them I let get away, this one I did let get away. Even if I had played half-decent, it would have been a good tussle with Nick. I let it slip. I made a lot of mistakes today. Call it what you want to call it, but I put all the blame on myself. I hit a couple of poor iron shots and you pay the price.’

What do you call it? ‘What I said right at the beginning. I played like a bunch of shit. That’s all I can say. I just didn’t get the job done. It’s not going to stop me. You learn from your mistakes. You know, I’m disappointed. I let this one get away. It’s not the end of the world for me, I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and still breathe, and I’ll get ready to go to Hilton Head [the next week’s tournament] and the other major championships. No one likes to lose major championships. I had a chance to win one this week, and I didn’t. Maybe I can convert something at the end of the year.’

He was asked about some of the particular moments from the day, the second at 9, the chip at 10, the tee shot at 12, the lay-up at 13. Was the lead a problem? ‘My lead? No, I came out starting as if everything was on the same score and just played as good golf as I could.’

Greg, how do you keep from being fatalistic about everything that’s happened in the past? ‘That’s golf, you know.’ About Faldo, after his comment from the previous day about people making good shots against him in the past: ‘Oh, Nick played great golf. There’s no two ways about it. He played great and I played poor.’

Is it humanly possible not to dwell on a day like today? ‘Watch.’ How are you able to do that? ‘I guess because to me there’s not a whole lot of anguish. As I said earlier in the week, my life is pretty good. I’m happy. I’ve got pretty good control over the situation. Things work on the golf course. Sometimes they work the way you like them to work, and sometimes they don’t. You know, I have a pretty good life and… it’s not the end of my world, losing this Masters championship. You learn, and you try to understand why and what happened. But sometimes, in a situation like today, I may not want to learn about this one. Maybe this is one I just screwed up bad enough with my own mistakes that you just put that one down, that it was just poor play.’

Could this be the most disappointing single round of your career? ‘Yeah, it probably would be at the end of it all.’ How so philosophical? ‘I’ve developed it from playing the game and seeing what the game gives you and what the game takes from you. I’ve done that in business, the business side of life, too. Not everything’s perfect your whole life. Maybe these hiccups that I have inflicted on myself are meant for another reason. I think there’s something waiting for me down the line that’s going to be good for me.’

Ever wonder how history will look at your record? ‘No. My life’s not over yet. So, as I said, I have a strong belief in myself that something good’s going to happen to me before my career is over. I really do believe that. And all of this is just a test.’

Someone asked: ‘In a
Sports Illustrated
article I just read about you, it came through that perfectionism is certainly something you strive for as a characteristic of yours. How can you have that attitude and not win?’ Answer: ‘How can I not win? Well, I am a winner. I just didn’t win today. I am a winner. I’m not a loser. I’m not a loser in life. I’m not a loser in golf tournaments. I win golf tournaments and I’ve won more than my share.’

Just at this moment, a television in the corner of the interview room was showing Faldo being helped into the green jacket. ‘I wish I’d won what Nick Faldo’s won,’ Norman continued, ‘but I haven’t. I’m a winner. I think I am a perfectionist. That’s how I’ve always been in my life. I feel confident in my belief and my approach to whatever I do that I can do it. If I wanted to be a brain surgeon and take the time to study that, I could. Anybody could be if you dedicate yourself enough to it. It depends on what you want out of life. I want to win the Masters. I didn’t win the Masters. Nick Faldo won the Masters, so he’s got something I haven’t got.’ About the brain surgery, Dan Jenkins later wrote in
Golf Digest
: ‘Maybe so, but he wouldn’t operate on this cowboy – not on a Sunday anyhow.’

Greg, I read you collected, is it $40 million in stock shares? So financially, this is just peanuts to you? ‘Well, you could say that. Is it $40 million? Something like that. So there’s a good thing about life, see?’

Do you have a feeling of wanting to go out of the room and just screaming and letting it all out? ‘I don’t know if I can convince you guys… I know I screwed up today, but it’s not the end of the world for me. It’s really not. God, I’d love to be putting this green jacket on here but it’s not the end of the world for me. I’m not going to fall off the face of the earth because of what’s happened here. If I had won today and all those other championships, my life might be totally different, but I didn’t win. It’s not going to affect my life. I get upset inside, but I’m not going to run around and be like a Dennis Rodman and head-butt an official.’ At this point Billy Morris, the Augusta member moderating the interview, swayed to his left, out of reach, while Norman played along by raising his right fist. It raised a laugh. ‘I’m not that way. I’m really not that way. I respect the game of golf we play. I love the game of golf. It’s given me a lot, and it’s going to give me a lot more.’