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By Seth Soffian & Dave Kempton
Special to The News-Press
Nov. 14,
2003
Greg Norman hasn't given up hope of winning more golf
tournaments just yet -- or so it would appear.
Dating back to before July's British Open, the
48-year-old Australian has been working with Naples-based swing instructor
Rick Smith, whose PGA Tour clients include Phil Mickelson, Lee Janzen,
Rocco Mediate, Jerry Kelly and Matt Kuchar.
Speaking Thursday at Tiburón Golf Club in North Naples,
where his Franklin Templeton Shootout is being held this week, Norman
downplayed the pairing with Smith, who has one of his two primary teaching
facilities at Tiburón.
 The Shark held a share of the lead in the British Open after firing an opening round 69 at St. George's in July. |
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"I really don't have the time to go out there and play
15 tournaments, or 20 tournaments,'' said Norman, who played in seven PGA
Tour-sanctioned events this season. "I can go out there and play 10 or 12
tournaments, which is the schedule I've been on for the last couple years
anyway.''
Norman said his fragile back, which forced his withdrawal
from a handful of events this year, including U.S. Open qualifying, and his
heavy business schedule will prevent his commitment to more tournaments.
At the same time, the two-time British Open champion
acknowledged that he has been working with Smith with an eye toward June's
U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, where he finished second to Corey Pavin by
two strokes in 1995.
"I think Shinnecock is probably more my goal than
Augusta,'' Norman said. "I don't think I'm going to play enough tournaments
between now and April to really get me there (the Masters Tournament).
"I guess I've got to win. I don't think I'm going to be
playing enough to warrant that. But June is a much more realistic target
for me.''
Smith said he and Norman first met at Tiburón, which was
designed by Norman, prior to the British Open and have met four or five
times since then.
Norman flew in by helicopter early this week to meet with
Smith.
"I asked him point-blank, there's some things I'd really
like to work with you on,'' Smith said Thursday. "It was just good
fundamentals, better body motion, getting the club more on plane, starting
with a takeaway that would set everything else up.
"We had it real quiet, it was great,'' Smith said of
their first meeting. "No interruptions, no distractions. It was just us out
here on the end of the range. We spent a lot of really good time, went into
the video area.
"He's definitely getting there, more like Greg Norman.''
Norman, who lives in Hobe Sound on Florida's east coast,
is in Southwest Florida regularly for business. He is presently
co-designing the golf course at nearby Tuscany Reserve with Pete Dye.
He said Smith's proximity and reputation helped lead to
the pairing, Norman's first extended work with a prominent instructor since
pairing with David Leadbetter in the late 1980s.
"I've seen him working with some of the players out
there,'' Norman said of Smith. "We just had a conversation one day. I don't
think either one of us are committed to each other, to tell you the truth.
We just work when I'm over here.
"It's easy because I'm building a golf course here, so
when Rick's around I go see him. I'm pretty much in agreement with what he
tells me, which is 99 percent of the battle.''
Norman hasn't won a full-field tournament anywhere in the
world since capturing the Greg Norman Holden International in Australia in
February 1998.
He underwent shoulder surgery only two months after the
victory, however, and had arthroscopic hip surgery two years later.
Even with his reduced schedule the last six years, Norman
has remained competitive. He made it through four rounds in three of his
seven PGA Tour-sanctioned events this season but had a pair of good
showings, tying for 18th in the British Open and tying for 24th in the
Deutsche Bank Championship.
"He's had a lot of good 54-hole tournaments,'' said
Norman's long-time caddie, Tony Navarro, acknowledging his boss' somewhat
renewed, if private, goals for next season.
"He's always been kind of private about his goals,''
Navarro said. "But he has to tell me a little bit, so I can push him toward
his goals.''
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