Recalling the days after Greg Norman’s 1996 Masters collapse

Bernie McGuire remembers Greg Norman’s days after his 1996 Masters collapse.

Following Hideki Matsuyama’s history-making Masters victory and the PGA Tour’s schedule in Hilton Head this week, Australian golf writer Bernie McGuire has shared his memories of the week after the 1996 Masters Tournament.

Most Australian golf fans don’t need reminding about what went on in the final round of the 1996 Masters but if you’ve really wiped it from your memory, Greg Norman somehow turned a six-stroke lead into a five-stroke loss to England’s Nick Faldo.

McGuire writes that Norman welcomed Australian journalists into a bunker where he was practising a few days later at Hilton Head.

There must have been just four of five us in the bunker by Norman’s side and it was Andrew leading the questions with Norman opening-up on the events post his Masters meltdown such as flying back to Florida in his private jet and just remaining on the plane into the early hours of Monday morning wondering where it all went wrong. He spoke also of taking his children to school later that Monday morning and also how the loss had impacted him.

Norman had again arranged for his ultra-luxury 87-foot fishing boat, proudly named ‘Aussie Rules’ to be again his Hilton Head accommodation and after chatting with him, he invited Andrew, Charlie and myself onto his boat later that evening.

…

Norman, for the most part, remained inside the cabin while we stayed at the back of the boat happy enough drinking a few ‘tinnies’.

That night was not a night for celebration and, if anything, it was akin to a wake.

Read the whole article over at Golf, by Tour Miss: Aboard Norman’s Boat At Hilton Head Drinking Aussie Beer Two Days After His Masters Meltdown