
Norman:
His aura
impressive
Last updated April 13 at 11 PM
By Mike Berardino
Staff Report
Augusta
Chronicle
Face it. You still don't believe Greg Norman is going
to win the Masters Tournament.
You've been waiting all week for him to fade, for those
well-documented demons to knock him headlong off the leader board. You've been waiting for
that one, crushing round of 75.
Greg Norman tees off the fourth green after bogeying the third hole.
By
Steve Shelton/Augusta
Chronicle
You've been waiting for the smile to disappear, the
wheels to disengage, the golf balls to start flying hither and yon. You've been waiting for
the latest episode in the longest-running serial in professional sports history: Calamity
Greg.
Well, it's now Sunday morning and you're still waiting.
Three straight
days Norman has made you look stoopid - with two O's. Three straight days he has dusted an
elite international field of greats and near-greats.
Norman's lead is six shots
entering today's final round.
SIX SHOTS!
Professional golfers don't blow
six-shot leads, do they?
You're still not convinced. You're saying you've seen this
show before. You're saying that if anyone on earth can blow a six-shot lead in the final
round of the Masters, it's the Shark.
Well, we must admit, we kind of agree.
History tells us to be wary with this guy. History tells us bad things happen to this man.
History tells us that Norman, for all of his wealth and looks and endorsement contracts and
Q-rating points, was put on this earth for one purpose and one purpose only: to finish
second in major golf tournaments.
Norman doesn't care much for history. Neither does
Madam Belle, one of Augusta's veteran psychics.
Seeking an early line on just exactly
how Norman is going to blow the tournament this time around, we called over to Madam Belle's
offices on Peach Orchard Road early Saturday afternoon. We started in with some details
about Norman's past, but she wasn't in the mood for history.
``I'm not into that
background stuff,'' said Madam Belle, a practicing psychic for the past 35 years. ``Greg
Norman is going to win this tournament. I just feel it. I just got through talking to my son
about it.''
We teased her about this and wondered how many consecutive years she's had
this feeling about Norman, the perennial Masters favorite. Madam Belle swore this is the
first year she's viewed his chances with such certainty.
``I'm not a golf fan, I
hardly ever watch,'' she said. ``But I saw him on TV, and there's just something about him
that caught my eye. He's Australian, isn't he? He is? See, I didn't even know that. It just
came to me.''
Next we called Mrs. Graham over on Wrightsboro Road. She's been a
card-carrying psychic for 15 years, since she was in high school. Mrs. Graham isn't a golf
fan either, but she did predict the Braves would go to the World Series in 1991.
``I
did it before the season even started,'' said Mrs. Graham, whose first name is Debbie.
We gave Mrs. Graham some details about five top contenders - Norman, Faldo, Phil Mickelson,
David Frost and Lee Janzen. She didn't need much, just birthdates and birthplaces and full
names. Twenty minutes later, she called back.
``Of those five people, none have an
aura as strong as Greg's,'' she began, cautioning that her phone readings are 70 percent
accurate, compared with 98 percent in person. ``I looked through his spirit and he seems
very determined. He has a great aura. He has a great field of energy to pull him forward in
anything he tries to do.''
We mentioned that maybe this had something to do with all
that work on the Versaclimber. This seemed to confuse Mrs. Graham.
``I'm saying that
his self-confidence and his energy are so high right now.'' she said. ``The energy-level
range is zero to 10. Well, he's almost at that 10 right now. His outlook is picking up
strong at this point.''
And how long does something like this last?
``Hard to
say,'' Mrs. Graham said. ``If he goes through another day, his outlook might not be the
same. That doesn't mean he's going to drop, but it's very hard to stay at that energy
level.''
She paused before adding one more thing, something Norman must have asked
himself so many times before.
``Is there any way,'' she asked, ``Greg could win the
tournament (Saturday)? If he's going to do it, he needs to do it soon.''
Uh-oh.
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