‘I Should’ve Never Done It’: Greg Norman Owned Up to His Mistake With Deep Regret After Avoiding an Ugly Situation in 1986

Before launching the LIV Golf league, Greg Norman was one of the most decorated golfers of all time. The golf legend has made tons of records on the field during the prime of his career. Norman has won 89 professional tournaments including two major championships. But there was something quite memorable about the time when he was about to win his first major tournament in 1986. And it involved the golf star almost getting into a fight with a heckler on the field.

What happened at the 1986 US Open with Greg Norman?

Fans have been heckling professional golfers ever since they got the freedom to be so close to players on the field. Most players have a great deal of experience with how it feels to be messed with during a game. One of the biggest examples is Bryson DeChambeau, who was called ‘Brooksie‘ in almost every tournament after his feud with Brooks Koepka.

But there have been instances when things were about to get out of hand. One such incident occurred back in 1996. It was when Greg Norman was leading the field during the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills after three rounds. But he was constantly having a rough time with the crowd during the final round.

“It was interesting with the crowd reaction,” Norman said. He recalled his fans calling him out and saying ‘Go home you effin Aussie’, ‘You can’t play golf’, ‘You’re a choker.’. He mentioned how he was walking towards the tee and fans were literally six feet away and yelling in his years.

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It is hard to even imagine how it would feel when you are trying to focus so hard, and have so many people trying to drag you down. Like any human being, Norman eventually lost his cool. “On one of the holes on Sunday, I should’ve never done it, I went up into the gallery and I just knew who it was,” he said.

Among so many fans, Norman surprisingly was able to identify the main culprit responsible for irritating him. He mentioned walking up to the heckler and said, “Look, if you want to say something to me, say it to me in the car park at the end of the round when I can do something about it.”.

However, Norman was not very proud of his reaction to the heckler’s words. He later admitted that he regretted approaching the situation that way. And said he should have gone for a more peaceful way of dealing with it. “I broke the sporting code of golf,” he said.

But eventually, his anger cost him his first potential major championship. The golfer lost against Raymond Floyd with a six shots deficit. Later, Norman won The Open Championship in the same year. But had he been a little more careful with his reaction, it could have been his second major win.

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