By Kelly Daniel
Staff Writer
Augusta Chronicle

It took less than a half hour for Martin Leaverton to stop calling Greg Norman ``The Shark'' and tag him with a nickname less sharp.

``Norman is what Norman does,'' Mr. Leaverton said.

As he invoked the movie Forrest Gump, Augusta National officials secured Mr. Norman's double bogey score on No. 16, sealing the golfer's defeat Sunday. He'd started the day with a six-stroke lead.

``I feel hateful, because I really thought he was going to do it,'' Mr. Leaverton said.

The Destin, Fla., man had earlier been joking with his business partners about the amount of Greg Norman clothing they were wearing. Each had Mr. Norman's shark logo somewhere on his body, from a black hat atop Ralph's head to what Mr. Terrell swore was beneath his tan shorts.

``I've even got Shark underwear on, but I'm not going to show you,'' Mr. Terrell said.

With their golf idol's demise on the back nine Sunday, each was ready to doff those Shark insignias.

``We'll throw our Shark stuff away,'' joked Mr. Leverton's partner, Todd Terrell, when Mr. Norman still held a one-stroke lead over eventual winner Nick Faldo.

Not all fans were ready to ditch their duds Sunday after Mr. Norman lost the Masters, despite starting the day with a six-stroke lead. Hundreds of fans crowded around the No. 18 leader board cheered lustily every time Mr. Norman appeared to be pulling out of his slide.

The cheers slid into grumbles and moans, though, when Mr. Faldo's scores kept popping up one better on the board.

When the double bogey on No. 16 went up, dozens of patrons struggled to their feet and started to leave the Augusta National.

Fans coming up from the far end of the course would arrive at the leader board, gaze upward and gape, some shaking their heads and others exclaiming ``What?!'' when they saw Mr. Norman's scores. Almost universally, they'd turn with a ``That's it - I'm going home'' and walk off the course.

Earlier in the day, when everyone around the grounds thought Mr. Norman would at last wear the green coat by day's end, Norman Sykes explained his wardrobe choice for the day.

``I haven't worn this shirt in two years,'' said Mr. Sykes, showing off his white golf shirt with black speckles and stripes and a multicolored Shark design across the chest - his favorite Greg Norman shirt.

``I just pulled it out the closet because it's my most elaborate Norman shirt,'' the University of South Carolina-Aiken junior explained. ``He wants to win this tournament so bad, I can't wait to see what he does on the 18th green today.''

It wasn't what Mr. Sykes had in mind, but Mr. Norman hugged Mr. Faldo as the Englishman bested the Australian.

The day's sunny weather and temperatures in the mid-80s gave golf fans a beautiful end to a perfect week. No rain fell during this Masters and conditions stayed sunny and fairly warm all week.

``Hey, it's all well worth it,'' Mr. Leaverton said, spreading his arms to take in the sunny slopes of the Augusta National. ``Everything was just fantastic.''

Except for the outcome for Greg Norman fans.