Norman Wins 1985 Open
It had been six years since his first Australian Open, but Queenslander Greg Norman thundered back to victory at Royal Melbourne by defeating fellow countryman Ossie Moore. Anders Forsbrand finished alone in third.
Heavy rain mid morning wiped out the first day of play and reduced the tournament to 54 holes. Going into the final round Norman was in a four-way tie for the lead and on the 14th hole the championship was still wide open.
After hitting a driver to the middle of the fairway of a long par-5 that played dead into the wind, Norman played his second with the same weapon. It stayed low and appeared to bore a hole right through the wind. The flight of the ball then surged high enough to clear a nest of bunkers fronting the green and eventually settled 20 feet from the hole.
Norman made that putt for a remarkable eagle and then followed that with a birdie on the very next hole. That was the boost he needed to separate from the pack. He went on to claim the trophy by two strokes after successive rounds of 67, 71 and 74.
Norman is now the fourth player to win both the Australian PGA and the Australian Open in the same year. He shares the honor with Ossie Pickworth, Norman Van Nida and Ken Nagle. Norman’s winning check was $45,000. Last year the Queenslander finished tied for third at the Open.