Evert's positive influence can't tame the inner Shark

Richard Hinds, Southport
July 20, 2008

AS GREG Norman stepped out of a time machine at Royal Birkdale, his new wife Chris Evert was considering what might have happened to their games had they met one wife (for Norman) and two husbands (for Evert) earlier. If they had walked through different Sliding Locker-Room Doors.

That, says Evert, was not so far-fetched as it might seem. The two 53-year-olds had long admired each other from afar. "We watched each other, we definitely watched each other," she said.

Evert used to also like watching Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus. "But (Norman's) got that charisma," she says. "He's got that great walk, in case any of you haven't noticed. He's got a great walk and a great stand."

So what if Chrissy had met Greg all those years ago?

"He could have brought more aggression out in me and maybe I could have calmed him down," said Evert of the characteristics she believed were weaknesses in their make-ups.

In Evert's case, a defensive approach on big points was hardly a fatal flaw. As the winner of 18 grand slam singles titles, she is one of her sport's all-time greats. Still, she believes a bit of trademark Norman aggression might have helped in her epic head-to-head with Martina Navratilova (Navratilova 43, Evert 37). "Under pressure, he's very aggressive and under pressure I held back a little bit and I wasn't aggressive," said Evert. "Believe me, it hurt me in a lot of matches against Martina, it really hurt me."

However, as Norman plotted an unusually serene course around Royal Birkdale in foul conditions, the more pertinent question was whether an earlier union with Evert would have helped a man often cursed by his own impetuosity and fate on the back nine at the majors to win more than just two majors.

It is a conversation Norman enjoys having with Evert because only another athlete knows what it feels like to be in the heat of battle. Yet he has reached no definitive conclusion.

The foot-on-the-pedal intensity that led to so many triumphs and tragedies was, he believes, part of his nature. "That's the way I played. I wore my heart on my sleeve. Could I go back and second-guess myself at certain tournaments? Yes, of course I could. Could I go back and try and improve on it? I might have been worse. I am who I am basically."

If Evert's influence on Norman's career has been belated, he says it was profound during this British Open renaissance.

The tennis matches they play at least four times a week have improved Norman's already impressive fitness. After he widened his stance to play an awkward bunker shot on the 16th, his playing partner Woody Austin remarked: "You ought to thank Chris Evert for the way you can stretch out on that shot."

Although Norman describes himself as a 20 handicapper on the court, Evert says he is better than that. "He's a good athlete," says Evert. "You never know if golfers can run, they don't need to, you never see them run. But he's a rugby player so he's got the hand, eye, feet and head for it."

Besides the tennis, there is the post-wedding blush that has the occasionally prickly Norman looking and sounding more like a Buddhist. "My life is great," he said after his second round. "I've got a wonderful life. I've got a wonderful wife and my whole being that's going on around here is just beautiful to tell you the truth."

The strange rebirth of his golfing career has been an unexpected bonus. "Last week he was voicing that he didn't think he was really that prepared for this," said Evert. "Never in a million years (did they expect him to be leading)."

But if Evert's conservative approach had a hand in Norman's revitalisation, she cannot tame his inner Shark. Having worked his way patiently around Royal Birkdale during the second round, Norman's adrenaline began to surge when he was given an enormous ovation at the last green. He promptly charged his first putt over a bump and off the back of the green.

Then, from seven metres, he drained the ball in the middle of the hole. Vintage Norman. Would you have it any other way?