Norman’s nightmare marked end of an era

Adam Scott’s Masters victory a year ago was met with near delirium in his native Australia as the so-called Lucky Country finally got a green-jacketed champion its proud golfing tradition deserved.

Until Scott’s play-off victory over Angel Cabrera in 2013, Masters near-misses had been to Australians like penalty shootouts to the English, sporting scars worn collectively by a nation desperate for its athletes to reach their potential. And in the Aussies’ case, the deepest cut had been inflicted by Greg Norman.

The Great White Shark would win the British Open twice and head the world golf rankings for 331 weeks for periods between 1986 and 1997 but he never could manage to conquer Augusta National.