CDN Icon - Moe Norman dead at 75

For those that have never witnessed Moe Norman, either in person or even on TV, you really won't appreciate the stories. Moe Norman was a "One of a Kind". His eccentric behaviour was something to marvel at. One thing that always stands out is that Moe Norman always made people laugh. Simply stated, he has been viewed as the greatest pure golfer ever to have played the game.

http://www.tsn.ca/golf/news_story.asp?id=97534



Canadian legend Moe Norman dead
Canadian Press
9/4/2004

KITCHENER, Ont. (CP-AP) - The golfer regarded by many as the best striker ever has died, according to the Royal Canadian Golf Association.

RCGA spokesman Victor Cui confirmed that Canadian golf legend Moe Norman passed away in a Kitchener, Ont., hospital early Saturday morning from heart failure. He was 75.

Norman had been battling heart problems since suffering a heart attack two years ago.

``One of my all-time favourites, he was fantastic,'' said Canadian LPGA veteran Nancy Harvey, who shot a career-best 8-under 64 at the State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill. on Saturday. ``Wow. This is sort of a bittersweet thing, isn't it?

``He was a wonderful guy, the greatest ball-striker that I've ever seen hit the ball.''

Norman became a phenomenon in the amateur golfing circuit in the 1950s and 1960s and was renowned for his unusual swing and his amazing accuracy when hitting the ball. Lee Trevino once called Norman a ``genius when it comes to playing the game of golf.''

Norman took up golf at the age of 12, spending hours hitting balls, swinging the club until his hands bled. He soon became a phenomenon on the amateur golfing circuit.

Norman set 33 course records, shot 59 three times and registered 17 holes in one.

He captured 13 Canadian Tour events and played for Canada at the 1971 World Cup. He won the Canadian Senior PGA title seven times, most recently in 1987.

In 1995, he was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

``Golf won't be the same here in this country,'' Canadian LPGA star Lorie Kane told TSN.

Norman was quite a sight on the golf course. With a limited, mismatched wardrobe, he often played with his pants up over his ankles and a stained shirt. Recently, he could be seen wearing as many five wristwatches at once to ensure he had the correct time.

Long before Tiger Woods did it, Norman was bouncing golf balls off his clubface during tournaments, doing it while walking the course. His swing was so numbingly consistent that even in competition he would joke around, frustrating playing partners by hitting the ball off eight-inch tees, wooden tee markers and Coke bottles.

At the time, Norman was never without a Coca-Cola, consuming as much as a case a day.

Norman played faster than anyone in competitive golf, usually striking the ball in about three seconds. With the slow methodical pace of tournament pros frustrating him to no end, he would silently protest by lying down in the fairway.

``It's a sad day for the golf world,'' Harvey said. ``He was totally natural. The man was tremendously talented and very eccentric. He was quite a man.''

On the green, Norman often didn't bother to read putts, walking up to the ball and striking it without setting himself. This exasperated fans and media alike, who repeatedly watched Norman throw away great birdie and eagle chances.

Once, on the first hole of a practice round - a 230-yard par-3 - members of the media started teasing Norman about his putting. Moe pulled a club out of his bag, smacked the ball, then turned to the reporters and announced, ``I'm not putting today.'' The ball went in for a hole-in-one.

After competing on the Canadian Tour and playing in two Masters events as an amateur, Norman played briefly on the PGA Tour, with a fourth-place effort at the 1959 Greater New Orleans Open being his best finish. Confronted by peers who strongly encouraged him to ``shape up,'' Norman walked away from the tour after earning less than $2,900 US.

When asked why he never took lessons from other pros, Norman responded: ``Because I haven't found the guy who can beat me.''

There are no shortage of interesting stories involving Norman.

Once, when playing a match with Sam Snead, the twosome teed up on a par-4 which featured a stream almost 250 yards from the tee box. Snead told Norman he needed to lay up but Norman simply said, ``I'm aiming for the bridge.''

Snead layed up and Norman hit his shot a bit longer. Norman's ball rolled across the little bridge and, dutifully, made its way safely to the other side. As the story goes, Snead never again offered Norman another piece of advice.

There is another yarn about Ben Hogan and Norman hitting practice balls together in the 1950s. Hogan was famous for asserting 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.''

By the mid-1980s, Norman was debt-ridden, frequently sleeping in his car or on park benches. But in 1992, Norman came to the attention of Jack Kuykendall, who had independently developed what he considered to be the ideal golf swing - an exact copy of Moe's technique. Kuykendall had founded the company Natural Golf and hired Norman to demonstrate the method.

``He always made the mechanics of the golf swing look easy,'' Kane said.

With a regular paycheque and a public relations effort on his behalf, Norman's life improved dramatically. In February, 1995, Wally Uihlein, president of Titleist and FootJoy Worldwide, announced that it would pay Norman $5,000 a month for the rest of his life - simply for being himself - further solidifying what was previously an uncertain financial future.

No funeral arrangements have been made.