Sporting legacies are often defined by what is missing, no matter how bountiful the achievements. Dan Marino and Ken Griffey Jr. own many records, but not the rings that accompany the greatest prizes in their sports. Charles Barkley earned 11 All-Stars, but no championships. Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl combined for 15 Grand Slam titles, but found only disappointment at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, respectively.
Despite 80-odd victories worldwide, Greg Norman is destined to be among those athletes ultimately measured by what is absent. Sure, some fans will best remember his two sublime Open Championship wins, but more will think first of the near-misses, the other 18 top-fives in majors, the eight runner-ups, two consecutively owing to improbable hole-outs from off the green. Identifying exactly which missing piece of the career puzzle defines Norman should be a settled question since he’s 68 years old and long removed from factoring on a leaderboard. But his legacy is still being authored, which is why the tournaments that will eventually help explain Norman’s place in the sport are not the majors but the World Golf Championships, events in which he competed only a half-dozen times with no success.
