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Norman pays price for hitting 4.5 million balls

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 July 2005, 07:19 CDT

By Jon Bramley

ST ANDREWS, Scotland (Reuters) - Twice British Open champion Greg Norman says his expectations are "zero" this week after a major back operation this year, the price for hitting around 4.5 million balls during this career.

The 50-year-old Queenslander, winner in 1986 and 1993, had the chronic condition fixed this year with an operation to improve his mobility and remove a sharp pain down his leg.

"I am just glad to be here because when I decided to have surgery on my back, I said to my doctor that all I wanted was to be in good enough shape to be here this week," he told reporters Wednesday.

"It was an intense procedure and I was under the knife for two hours.

"All I wanted to do when I came out of the operating room was wiggle my toes on my right leg to see if everything was okay and know that I was not paralyzed."

Norman is a former world number one but failed to build on his two British Open victories with a number of close calls in other major tournaments.

His last big chance came in the 1996 U.S. Masters when he held a six-shot final-round but famously crumbled on the last day at Augusta to allow Briton Nick Faldo to snatch his sixth and final major.

The big, blond Australian said he has no regrets following three decades of tournament golf and endless practice.

"I have enjoyed everything I've done in my career and I would not have changed anything," he said.

"I have enjoyed all the golf balls I have hit and we estimate that I have hit over 4.5 million balls in my career. I would not change and now I feel okay and feel I can play."

Norman also had advice for any gamblers tempted by his long odds -- 200-1 with London bookmaker William Hill -- for a third Open title this week.

"I am just going out to enjoy myself," he said. "I have zero expectations and I can't have any because I have not played a tournament since the Heineken Classic in February.

"Now it's about getting into the position where I feel I can swing a golf club."

Source: REUTERS

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