Champions Tour Insider: Norman talks goals, majors

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Greg Norman will tee it up at the Cap Cana Championship, the first non-major he's played on the Champions Tour.

Greg Norman may be an occasional golfer at this point in his career but he certainly isn't casual about his goals when he tees it up this week at the Champions Tour's Cap Cana Championship or again in two weeks at the Masters.

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Norman's objective will be to compete at a very high level. That's just the way he is. That's the way all professional athletes with a champion's pedigree approach their craft.

In Norman's case, there is a twist. He doesn't want expectations to get in the way. They didn't at the British Open last summer and what he achieved was impressive.

The Cap Cana Championship is Norman's first Champions Tour event that isn't a major. It will take his preparations from the range to the course as he continues the build-up to Augusta National Golf Club, where Norman will return for the first time in seven years.

Norman has never made a secret of his affection for the Masters. It's a special place for him, as it is for so many others. Augusta National has left Norman battered on more than one occasion but that hasn't tempered his fondness for all the things that go with golf's first major of the year. And because the Masters is special, Norman would never think about going back without being as fully prepared as possible.

The Cap Cana Championship is a step in the process.

Norman played in three Champions Tour majors last year. He finished fourth at the U.S. Senior Open, tied for fifth at the Senior British Open and tied for sixth at the Senior PGA Championship. And he demonstrated at the British Open at Royal Birkdale, where he was the 54-hole leader before finishing tied for third, that age doesn't have to be a deterrent to outstanding golf.

Padraig Harrington chased down Norman at Royal Birkdale but there is no disgrace in that. Harrington has chased down much younger men and on this occasion the Irishman did it with a fourth round worthy of a golfer in possession of the Claret Jug.

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Norman, seen here at the Masters in 1986, finished second at Augusta National three times.

The Nicklaus Course at Punta Espada Golf Club in the Dominican Republic will be a stern test for Norman. The winds will blow, putting a premium on precision iron play, something he will need at Augusta National.

There is a certain irony to Norman's return to Augusta National seven years later.

At his best, Norman was an extraordinary driver of the golf ball. He drove it long and straight and, in fact, still does. In his failed attempts at the Masters -- most notably 1987 and 1996 -- Augusta National demanded less of the driver than it does today. In those days, it had massive fairway widths. Today, it's longer but also much tighter with trees infringing on fairways in a way they never did then.

The combination of Norman's distance and accuracy off the tee in his prime would have suited him especially well on this Augusta National set-up now that the premium on driving has been amplified.

"It's a lot tighter golf course, no question about it," Norman said last week. "And I guess the whole thing depends on how Augusta sets up the golf course."

Norman's game plan reflects the approach he took at Royal Birkdale.

"There's a lot of interest involved in my return and I think that's wonderful, but at the same time, I'm going to be going into this tournament, just like I said back in July of last year, just try to go down there and enjoy myself and have fun without putting any expectations on myself," he said.

At the same time, Norman realizes that's difficult for him. Wherever he plays -- and that includes this week at Cap Cana -- a lot of people are there to see Norman. He is an icon. The expectations are always there.

"It's been great," he said. "It' s been a bit of an eye opener. Sometimes you're so far out of the radar screen, like I have been the last couple of years, to get back into it, really is poignant in a lot of ways. The fact (is) that, hey, a lot of people did follow my career in a lot of ways and are very excited about me getting back to Augusta. It's going to be a lot harder to manage my expectations ... it's going to be a very disciplined approach from my perspective to go in there and walk to the first tee on Thursday and go, 'I'm just here to have fun.

"Time will tell. But that having been said, I'm practicing more. I'm working out more. I'm making the effort to try to put my best foot forward, and that was not the case at the British Open, either. I wasn't practicing and playing poorly and I considered not playing. So such a dichotomy of approaches."

Champions Tour Insider Notes:

• Nick Price, with 16, leads this week's field with the most top-10 finishes of those who have yet to win on the Champions Tour. He is followed by Joe Ozaki (14), Tim Simpson (12), Mark O'Meara (10), and Chip Beck and Joey Sindelar with nine each.

• Tom Purtzer continues to lead in driving distance with 307 yards, nearly 35 yards more than the average of 272.3. Hale Irwin is hitting eight of every 10 drives into the fairways to lead that category by percentage points ahead of Blaine McCallister.

• Morris Hatalsky and Ben Crenshaw are 1-2 in the putts per round category -- Hatalsky at 27.42 and Crenshaw at 27.87. Both have always been exceptional putters and are proof positive that getting older doesn't necessarily mean getting skittish on the greens.