Less than three weeks after his wedding to Chris Evert, Greg Norman -- at age 53, playing in a major golf championship for the first time since 2005, having failed to make the cut in the only three PGA Tour events in which he has entered this year -- found himself one stroke off the lead Friday after the first two rounds of the 137th British Open at Royal Birkdale.A surprise? Yes.A coincidence? Not at all.Not if you know anything about the woman he married.Evert might've been "Chrissy, America's tennis sweetheart" to the masses. But she was someone else on the court.She was as fierce a competitor as anyone in her game, maybe the most mentally tough player ever to wield a racket. She possessed the focus of a surgeon, the poise and patience of a diplomat, the heart of a champion.And those indelible qualities, along with the most dependable strokes tennis has known, took her to 18 Grand Slam singles titles and the apex of her sport.Could they now take her new husband to his third Claret Jug? That's probably a reach, considering how little golf Norman plays these days. Other than his three starts on the PGA Tour, the only other tournament he played this year was in May at the Senior PGA Championship, where he finished tied for sixth."I've got to keep my expectations realistically low, to be honest with you," Norman told reporters Thursday, after shooting even-par 70 on a cold, wet and windy day. "I haven't played a lot of golf."Truth is, Norman, who won the British Open in 1986 and 1993 and once held the No. 1 ranking for 331 weeks, has spent more time hitting tennis balls than golf balls since he and Evert began dating last year.During the Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., in May, Norman said he plays tennis with Evert as much as four or five times per week."We go out there in the evening before dinner and play for an hour-and-a-half to two hours," he said. "I never played tennis until about a year ago. I actually wish I had taken up tennis instead of golf. . . . Chris actually made a comment that my athletic abilities are wasted on golf, because I move good. I can still move. I've got good hand-eye coordination. I move across the court pretty good. And playing tennis, I love it."I get very involved in it, committed to it, just like I was when I was a young kid playing golf."There are times, Norman said, when he'll go out to the court and hit 1,000 tennis balls.It has been years since he has hit that many golf balls."My mind still wants to play, but my body doesn't want to practice," Norman said after the first round at Birkdale. "Believe me, I still enjoy playing. But I don't enjoy standing out there on the driving range for four, five, six hours a day."Not after doing so for so many years.Not after the wrist, knee and back injuries, some of which required surgery.Besides, Norman is also a wildly successful businessman whose vast empire includes a golf-course design company, a clothing line and a winery.And, now, he has Evert."The other side of my life is absolutely fantastic," said Norman, who paid a $103 million divorce settlement to his ex-wife, Laura. "I enjoy playing golf, and I enjoy spending time at home with Chrissy and with my kids. I enjoy my business and what I'm doing. I've probably got the most beautiful balance I've ever had."Before, all it was golf, golf, golf. . . . Everything else took second stage. Now, really, golf is second and everything else is first, as far as I'm concerned. It's a great feeling."It's also great to have someone like Evert -- someone who understands what it takes to achieve such a lofty standing in sports -- to talk with.And play tennis against.And learn from."We both talk about our respective careers," Norman said in May. "When you've been No. 1, it's very difficult to talk to anybody about it, unless you've been No. 1 . . . Once you reach the top, a lot of people don't understand the necessities of what is required of you to be there. And we've had just really brilliant conversations, and that's been very good for both of us."Especially Norman.He played some terrific golf on Thursday and Friday, shooting even par both days, on one of the game's grandest stages, as his new wife watched from the gallery.That was a surprise.But it wasn't a coincidence.Not if you know anything about the special woman he married.(Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Contact him at ray.mcnulty@scripps.com or on the Web at www.tcpalm.com.)
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