"Unknown Legend" Moe Norman Dies
Sunday September 5, 2004
Is it possible for a golfer to be both unknown to most casual fans and a legend in the golf world? Yes, if you're talking about Moe Norman. The enigmatic, eccentric, infuriating and inspiring Norman - a golf genius according to many golf greats who say he was the greatest ballstriker they've ever seen - died Saturday at the age of 75.
There are many stories told about Norman, whose unusual swing lives on in the Natural Golf system. One of my favorites is of the time when Norman and Sam Snead were playing an exhibition. Both players needed about 250 yards to clear a stream. Snead laid up, then watched Norman prepare to go for it.
"You need to lay up, Moe," Snead told Norman, "you can't carry that creek." Norman replied, "I'm aiming for the bridge."
And after his laser-straight shot rolled right across the bridge, over the hazard, Snead didn't try telling Norman again how to play a shot.
Moe Norman burst onto the golf scene by dominating the amateur circuit in his native Canada in the 1950s and '60s. He would go on to set 33 course records, win 13 Canadian Tour events, play for Canada in the World Cup in 1971, shoot 59 three times and record 17 holes-in-one.
But Norman never won on the PGA Tour and, in fact, quit the PGA Tour after just a very brief appearance. If Norman was one of the best ball-strikers ever, renowned for his amazing accuracy - the kind of golfer others golfers stop to watch warm up - why didn't he win on the PGA Tour?
The real reasons for Norman's demons may never be known. He was an incredibly shy person, and there are some who have speculated that Norman might have been a "higher functioning autistic."
"Eccentric" doesn't begin to describe Norman's life. He often showed up for golf tournaments wearing terribly mismatched outfits. He played extremely fast, sometimes not even bothering to read a putt before making his strokes on the green. He was a trick shot artist on the driving range, but he sometimes took those tricks out onto the course with him - hitting his tee shots off Coke bottles, for example, during tournament play. He spoke very fast and often repeated phrases, and he never interacted well with galleries or strangers.
When he found he couldn't stand the conditions on the PGA Tour, Norman retreated to the friendlier and familiar places back home in Canada. And he continued winning, taking seven Canadian Senior PGA titles.
But he was never good with money and by the mid-80s was spending many nights, out of necessity, sleeping in his car. Moe Norman might well have been forgotten by most of the golf world had his association with Natural Golf not come about.
Norman became better known in recent years because of Natural Golf, an alternative teaching system developed in the early 1990s. Many people think Norman "invented" Natural Golf, but that isn't so. Natural Golf was developed independently of Norman, but once its similarities to Norman's swing were noticed, Norman and his legend were brought into the fold.
The year 1995 was a good year for Norman - he was elected to the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. And he was also given a $5,000-a-month-for-life stipend by Titleist/FootJoy ... for doing nothing. Just to help out a legend who'd had some hard times.
The Edmonton Journal newspaper, in its obit for Norman, tells another story about him:
"There is another yarn about Ben Hogan and Norman hitting practice balls together in the 1950s.
"Hogan had always asserted that there was no such thing as an intentionally straight golf shot. After watching Norman hammer one perfectly straight shot after another, Hogan just scratched his head and walked away, suggesting that Norman "keep hitting those accidents."
More Reading on Moe Norman
• Moe Norman Obituary from Edmonton Journal
• Moe Norman's swing (Golf Digest)
• Moe Norman - The Greatest Golfer the World Has Never Known (Failure Magazine)
There are many stories told about Norman, whose unusual swing lives on in the Natural Golf system. One of my favorites is of the time when Norman and Sam Snead were playing an exhibition. Both players needed about 250 yards to clear a stream. Snead laid up, then watched Norman prepare to go for it.
"You need to lay up, Moe," Snead told Norman, "you can't carry that creek." Norman replied, "I'm aiming for the bridge."
And after his laser-straight shot rolled right across the bridge, over the hazard, Snead didn't try telling Norman again how to play a shot.
Moe Norman burst onto the golf scene by dominating the amateur circuit in his native Canada in the 1950s and '60s. He would go on to set 33 course records, win 13 Canadian Tour events, play for Canada in the World Cup in 1971, shoot 59 three times and record 17 holes-in-one.
But Norman never won on the PGA Tour and, in fact, quit the PGA Tour after just a very brief appearance. If Norman was one of the best ball-strikers ever, renowned for his amazing accuracy - the kind of golfer others golfers stop to watch warm up - why didn't he win on the PGA Tour?
The real reasons for Norman's demons may never be known. He was an incredibly shy person, and there are some who have speculated that Norman might have been a "higher functioning autistic."
"Eccentric" doesn't begin to describe Norman's life. He often showed up for golf tournaments wearing terribly mismatched outfits. He played extremely fast, sometimes not even bothering to read a putt before making his strokes on the green. He was a trick shot artist on the driving range, but he sometimes took those tricks out onto the course with him - hitting his tee shots off Coke bottles, for example, during tournament play. He spoke very fast and often repeated phrases, and he never interacted well with galleries or strangers.
When he found he couldn't stand the conditions on the PGA Tour, Norman retreated to the friendlier and familiar places back home in Canada. And he continued winning, taking seven Canadian Senior PGA titles.
But he was never good with money and by the mid-80s was spending many nights, out of necessity, sleeping in his car. Moe Norman might well have been forgotten by most of the golf world had his association with Natural Golf not come about.
Norman became better known in recent years because of Natural Golf, an alternative teaching system developed in the early 1990s. Many people think Norman "invented" Natural Golf, but that isn't so. Natural Golf was developed independently of Norman, but once its similarities to Norman's swing were noticed, Norman and his legend were brought into the fold.
The year 1995 was a good year for Norman - he was elected to the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. And he was also given a $5,000-a-month-for-life stipend by Titleist/FootJoy ... for doing nothing. Just to help out a legend who'd had some hard times.
The Edmonton Journal newspaper, in its obit for Norman, tells another story about him:
"There is another yarn about Ben Hogan and Norman hitting practice balls together in the 1950s.
"Hogan had always asserted that there was no such thing as an intentionally straight golf shot. After watching Norman hammer one perfectly straight shot after another, Hogan just scratched his head and walked away, suggesting that Norman "keep hitting those accidents."
More Reading on Moe Norman
• Moe Norman Obituary from Edmonton Journal
• Moe Norman's swing (Golf Digest)
• Moe Norman - The Greatest Golfer the World Has Never Known (Failure Magazine)
Comments
Im taking Moes swing back to the top! Youll soon know my name everyone will!