Greg Norman reveals Adam Scott gave him the Masters thrill he had been longing

VIDEO: Greg Norman features in a two-part Australian Story episode (ABC News)
Australian golfing great Greg Norman has opened up about the emotion that took over him when he watched his prodigy Adam Scott win the US Masters earlier this year.

In tonight's first episode of a two-part special on Australian Story, Norman reveals how much pain his own shock loss in the 1996 Masters caused him and how overjoyed he was when Scott won the green jacket at August National.

Scott had thanked Norman in his speech after the win at Augusta, a moment made all the more poignant by the fact that this was the scene of the Shark's greatest heartbreak.

But even before Scott thanked Norman in his winning speech for being such a big influence on his career, the Great White Shark showed how much the win meant to him.

Norman's wife Kirsten said he was overcome when Scott clinched victory.

"He just basically fell to the floor when he won. He was in tears. He was just so excited," she said.

Norman has taken great delight in seeing Australians Scott, Jason Day and Marc Leishman all challenging for the Masters title on the final day at Augusta.

"I said to myself, boy, wouldn't this be ironic," Norman said.

Australia never won the Masters before and there is a possibility of three Aussies being in a play-off to win the first green jacket. I'm thinking wow, how cool is that," he told Australian Story.

"So I was very into it right, and very emotionally tied up and you know I felt for Jason."

But he says he felt an immense amount of pride watching Scott, who he has mentored throughout his career, become the first Australian in 87 years to win the Masters.

He gave that tribute to me, of course there was a tear in my eye.
Greg Norman
"He gave that tribute to me, of course there was a tear in my eye," he said.

"It shows a lot about the integrity who Adam really is to be able to in his moment of glory take a step back and acknowledge who really paved the way for him to go there. And it was such a special moment."

The agony of the 1996 Masters meltdown

Norman told Australian Story the 1996 loss to Nick Faldo hit him harder than any other.

"I disappeared down to the beach after the US Masters. I laid on the beach and cried because I felt like I'd completely screwed up a tournament that I wanted to win," he said.

"So that would be about the only time I brought the emotion of a golf tournament back home."

Scott, Day and Leishman all spoke of the great respect they have for Norman.

"It was only natural to think of Greg at the end and the history that he's had there," Scott told Australian Story referring to his tribute to Norman in his Masters speech.

"He's been that close and meant that much to my game that hopefully my win really can satisfy him as well, that all the work and effort he's put into me is
something that he can take out of it."

"I think there is a generation of younger kids in Australia who are here because of Greg Norman."

Leishman dismissed the often repeated claim that Norman was a choker.

You try to emulate him because he was the best golfer in the world.
Marc Leishman
"You try to emulate him because he was the best golfer in the world. It's extraordinary to be number one for 300 weeks - that's six years," he said.

"I think the only people that were saying that [he was a choker] were people that had never been in that situation.

"It's really hard to win golf tournaments and the guys that beat him played well to beat him."

Part One of Greg Norman's Australian Story airs tonight at 8.00pm on ABC1.

Sweden's Henrik Stenson wins second PGA Tour playoff event to take lead in playoff rankings

Sweden's Henrik Stenson celebrates with son Karl after winning the second PGA Tour playoff event.
PHOTO: Family celebration ... Henrik Stenson and his son Karl celebrated a double win, as Henson took out the second PGA Tour playoff event and topped the playoff standings. (Getty Images: Jared Wickerham)
MAP: United States
Sweden's Henrik Stenson shot a closing five-under 66 to capture the second PGA Tour playoff event, to take the lead in the play-offs standings from Tiger Woods.

Stenson, who won on the PGA tour for the fourth time in his career, finished at 22-under 262 to tie the tournament scoring record at the TPC Boston.

American Steve Stricker finished two shots back in second place.

Canada's Graham DeLaet shot 69 to finish alone in third and Sergio Garcia of Spain shot a 2-over 73 to tie for fourth with three Americans, Jordan Spieth (62), Matt Kuchar (66) and Kevin Stadler (68).

The 37-year-old Stenson, from Gothenburg, posted his first win on the PGA Tour since the 2009 Players Championship by rolling in six birdies in a Monday finish.

Stenson finally broke through with a victory after some runner-up performances this season. He finished second at The Open Championship and the World Golf Championships-Invitational followed by a third at the PGA Championship.

Jason Day was the top-placed Australian in a tie for 13th on 14-under after a final round of 2-under 69. He moves up to 12th in the playoff standings.

Marc Leishman finished tied for 16th on 13-under, after a final round 70. He is now 58th in the rankings.

Adam Scott, who came second to Tiger Woods in the first play-off event, finished tied for 53rd on 6-under after a closing round of 1-over 72.

He slips to third on the overall rankings behind Stenson and Woods.

Heavy rains all week led to low scores and plenty of delays, including two more on Tuesday (AEST).

Monday's (AEST) third round was completed in near darkness after a lengthy weather delay. Some players had started their third rounds, but the long stoppage forced officials to erase that play and have players go out in threesomes of split tees.

Woods stumbled to a 2-over 73 on Tuesday and finished in a tie for 65th. It was his eighth above par score in 36 rounds in this tournament.

Third round leader Garcia has now won just three of the last 11 times in which he owned at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

Marc Leishman named in International team for Presidents Cup

 On debut ... Marc Leishman
PHOTO: On debut ... Marc Leishman (Getty Images: Mike Ehrmann, File Photo)
MAP: United States
Australia's Marc Leishman will make his Presidents Cup debut in Ohio next month after being named as a captain's pick in the 12-man International line-up to face the United States.

Leishman, whose only US PGA Tour victory came in 2012, has recorded four top 10 finishes this season and shared fourth place at the Masters last April.

He is one of three Australians named by International captain Nick Price, with Masters champion Adam Scott and Jason Day also included.

Leishman will debut in the biennial tournament alongside Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge.

US captain Fred Couples opted for a blend of experience and emerging talent, choosing former major winner Webb Simpson and rookie sensation Jordan Spieth as his wildcards.

Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion, was widely expected to be included for the Ryder Cup-style competition after spending most of the past two years in the automatic top 10 in the US points standings before finishing up in 11th.

PGA Tour rookie Spieth, 20, was a much bolder selection but had captured Couples' attention with a sizzling run of form over the past two months that included winning his maiden PGA Tour title in July.

US team: Tiger Woods, Brandt Snedeker, Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Steve Stricker, Bill Haas, Hunter Mahan, Zach Johnson, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth

International team: Adam Scott (Australia), Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Jason Day (Australia), Ernie Els (South Africa), Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Branden Grace (South Africa), Graham DeLaet (Canada), Richard Sterne (South Africa), Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Marc Leishman (Australia), Brendon de Jonge (Zimbabwe)

Why It Is Important To Shape Shots

The ability to shape shots opens up the golf course quite a bit during play and also enables the golfer to score better. It’s like adding extra clubs to your bag.
So you are about to tee off on a par four with either your driver or three metal. The fairway is 40 yards wide, trouble on the left side of the fairway. If you are able to hit a power fade (and control it — not hit it in the next fairway!) you would want to start the drive on the left side of the fairway and move the ball from left to right.
If you aim down the middle you would have 20 yards on each side of your aim to miss, but if you aim to the left side of the fairway and fade the shot, now you have 40 yards of fairway to work with. Just like that you have made the fairway twice as big.
The idea is that if you are hitting a fade or a draw off the tee then you will eliminate a side of the fairway. For example, if your aiming point is the right side of the fairway and you are planing on hitting a draw, if you hit any kind of draw at all you will be in the center or left of the fairway. If the ball does not draw and just goes straight you’ll be on the right side of the fairway.
Another strong benefit to this ability is for approach shots to greens. Pins seem to find themselves setup behind bunkers and other hazards. If a pin is on the right side of a green and behind a bunker, the smart play is to try to work the ball from left to right toward the pin. You give yourself a bailout if you don’t hit it exactly the way you wanted.
This is so important we have created an entire section on the subject, check it out here:
Shape Shots
The best part about shaping shots is that if you miss the shot the damage is minimized. But don’t go crazy with this. Every shot does not have to move — straight is also a direction.

5 Ways To Improve Your Golf Game

With over 25 million golf enthusiasts in the U.S. it is one of, if not the fastest growing sports with more than 15% of the population playing. Many people spend a lot of time and money playing and practicing golf, but generally not so much on conditioning their body to play golf.

What these people don't realize is that golf is one of the most stressful sports you can play, particularly for your back. Golf requires full rotational capacity of almost every joint in the body, the coil and recoil action of the spine during a golf swing is challenging to the healthiest of spines. Any dysfunction or imbalance in the length/tension of the muscles and stabilize and support the joints can lead to inconsistency on the course; lower scores, and breakdown of your body, including your swing.

So, is golf such as a docile game where you just go for a walk, hit a little ball, and then go for another walk and hit it again? Most of us believe we can take up golf later in life when we have time for it? It can be a wonderful and challenging new sport for most people to take up if they properly condition their bodies for it. If conditioned they can avoid some of the common ailments such as: sore backs, shoulders, hips, etc. that tend to be associated with golfing.

5 Components to a better Golf Game:

1. Focus on Core Strength. The muscles stemming from the chest down to the pelvic area involve the "core" or torso of the body. Think of the trunk of the body as the solid, stable force from which all other body parts can move. If this area is weak and not conditioned properly our extremities such as the legs and arms cannot function optimally with ease and efficiency.

The abdominal muscles involving the superficial rectus abdominus, the deeper tranverse abdominals, and the side obliques all involve some aspect of stabilizing the spine for the twisting and side bending action involved with golf.

Practicing Pilates-based exercises on the mat or equipment successfully conditions your core in all of these planes of movement. As you wok to stabilize the core you can simultaneously move the extremities of the body such as the arms and legs through corrective and efficient hip and joint mobilization.

2. Stretching and Strengthening the Muscles. Think of your muscles as a rubber band, when they are not being worked but are just resting they are resilient and pliable. When you stretch that rubber band out it becomes more vulnerable to forces acting upon it. One prick and it could go shooting across the room. Not that your muscle would go shooting across the room but it may become injured or tear if it was weak when elongated.

If you have strength without flexibility when hitting a golf ball you may just have to walk farther into the rough to get the ball. If you have flexibility without strength you may keep the ball on the fairway, but then not have as far to walk. With this in mind you can see now why it is important to combine these two components for a better and more consistent golf game.

The best way I have found and many of the pros as well, is to practice Pilates exercises which utilizes spring tension to combine strengthening while stretching the muscles at the same time. If you are looking for a certified Pilates instructor in your area check here for members:

3. Improve your Posture. Without proper posture and spinal alignment in the body your center of gravity will be off and cause inconsistency in your scores.

Increased kyphosis (rounding) in the upper or thoracic area of the spine restricts rotation in the torso causing faulty swing mechanics. No matter how well trained you may be, you will always have some distortion and inconsistency in your swing plane.

To decrease your risk for injury, improve motor programming, and, in turn your swing plane, align yourself properly at address. Good postural alignment and muscle balance involves a straight or neutral spine. Make sure as you hinge forward at the waist to keep your chest open, abdominal muscles drawn in and then feel like you are poking your butt out to sit in a chair.

4. Warm-Up for Consistency. Your warm-up or pre-event exercises should be dynamic in nature, which means with movement. Focus on the spine, hips, and shoulders. The brain is constantly monitoring the changing length of the muscles as you do your warm-up, so you need to slowly but steadily move in and out of your stretches until you loosen up. Pilates exercise sequences are based on this smooth flowing but exacting movements.

5. Fuel your Body. Good nutrition is our body's fuel. If it is running on low it will not perform optimally. Make sure to eat properly and within a couple of hours of your golf game if you hope to perform at your best.

Remember also, our muscles are over 80% water and if they are not hydrated they are like a rubber band that was left out in the sun dried out and easily cracked. Like the rubber band, your muscles without water will not be as pliable and will be more prone to injuries. Drink plenty of water and electrolyte drinks if you are out for longer than 2 hours to keep your muscles loose and pliable.