Grand Slam to Norman
The PGA Grand Slam of Golf pits the winners of the four major championships in a two-day, 36-hole stroke-play battle.
Greg Norman became the first player to break par on the 7,500-yard Kemper Lakes course and tacked on one more victory to his amazing season-long run. Norman finished at 2-under 70 and defeated Jack Nicklaus, Bob Tway and Fuzzy Zoeller.
Zoeller came in with 72 and Nicklaus, who deposited his ball in the water on the par-3 17th, finished with Tway on 75.
Norman clowned with Zoeller during the final round by planting a flagstick in a greenside bunker on the 18th hole while waiting for his playing partner to catch up. Zoeller responded by landing his approach shot 12 feet from the flagless hole.
Norman finished the season with 11 tournament titles, including his first British Open championship at Turnberry where he defeated Englishman Gordon Brand by five strokes.
In an historic run, Norman led all four major championships going into the final round, a feat that had never before been accomplished in professional golf. Norman entered 22 tournaments on the U.S. PGA Tour this year and tallied an amazing 13 top-five finishes.
Norman also experienced his fare share of disappoints. He watched in disbelief as Tway holed a miraculous bunker shot on the 72nd hole to win. His clash with Nicklaus at Augusta National was another near-miss. Norman came within a whisker of winning his first green jacket, but the 46-year-old Golden Bear marched home with a 30 on the final nine holes to win by one.
Through it all, Norman persevered, and he fashioned a year for the ages: three titles on the U.S. Tour, four in Europe and four in Australia.
Norman finished the season as the top money winner in the world with official earnings of $653,296. Counting all prize money – official and unofficial – Norman became the first professional golfer to win $1 million in a single season. He also ascended to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.