The shark was dead in the water last Friday. Already 0 for 5 in
his own tournament, the Greg Norman International, he was seven
strokes off the lead through 36 holes and gnashing his teeth
over a scandal that had reached out 15,000 miles to ruin his
week. "I should be able to just go out and play," he said, "but
I don't care how strong your mind is, it's there."
It was Sexgate, the scandal that threatens to harpoon the
presidency of Shark chum Bill Clinton. Last week special
prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who is investigating Clinton's
relations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky,
ordered a Florida TV station to "produce the videotape or tapes
depicting President William Jefferson Clinton with Miss Monica
Lewinsky on a trip to Florida during which he visited with
golfer Greg Norman." There were rumors that Lewinsky was with
Clinton in Norman's Hobe Sound guesthouse last March on the
fateful night when Clinton tripped on the doorstep and blew out
his knee. Norman hotly denied the rumors, then erupted at Aussie
reporters who quizzed him about his friendship with the President.
"Let the thing go, guys," he said. "What he does in his private
life is his business. I think he should just go on and run the
country." Norman admitted that the commotion was getting to him,
leaving him in a fuzzy-minded funk, not to mention seven shots
behind leader José María Olazábal.
So what does he do next? Only fire a course-record 64 on
Saturday to get close, then reel in the Spaniard with a 67 on
Sunday to claim his own $127,000 first prize.
"I would put this win very high on my list," Norman told his
media persecutors after beating Olazábal by two strokes and
Stuart Appleby, John Cook and Steve Elkington by four. "Under
the circumstances my round yesterday was as good as I have
played in 10 to 15 years. I had to come back mentally because
I'd been mentally out of it. Today, when I hit the lead outright
for the first time on the back nine, I thought it was going to
be my show."
Back in Florida, things were also looking up for Greg's friend
Bill. The elusive videotapes showed Norman and Clinton together,
but no sign of Ms. Lewinsky. Prosecutor Starr and Olazabal had
both finished second.
Issue date: February 16, 1998
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