'I play more tennis than golf now'

Greg John Norman almost wrote the most glorious chapter of professional golf last week at the British Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. At the age of 53, the Australian made a gallant bid to become the oldest player ever to win a Major championship. He led the tournament after three most difficult days, with winds reaching speeds of up to 75kph. Norman is almost a casual golfer now, spending a majority of his time designing golf courses and other businesses. He is designing three of the four golf courses at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, including Earth, which will host the $10 million Dubai World Championship. He got married to tennis legend Chris Evert last month.

Greg, a fantastic performance in finishing third. But having led after the first three days, you must be disappointed?

Obviously I'm disappointed. That would be an understatement if I didn't say I was disappointed. But it was a tough day, and even though I got off to three straight bogeys, I thought it was a good start. Padraig [Harrington, the eventual winner] played great. Even though he tried to let it get away in the middle of the round, he came back and performed beautifully and finished like a true Open Champion.

I can walk away from here being disappointed, but I can walk away from here with my head held high because I hung in there. It wasn't meant to be, and you've got to take that with a grain of salt.

You've had your share of well-documented disappointments over the years. Because you said you almost had no expectations this year, where does this loss stand for you?

Probably not as high as some of the other ones when I was in my prime. Quite honestly, I'm sure I surprised a lot of people.

I think millions of your fans want to know this one – where did this week of golf come from?

I came in here with a good attitude and kind of like a fresh approach to life in general, and it's really showed through in my game. I'm very happy with my life and I think it shows after my marriage to Chrissy. The other side of my life is absolutely fantastic. I enjoy playing golf and I enjoy spending time at home with Chrissy and with my kids. I enjoy my business and what I'm doing. It's the first time in my life I've probably got the most beautiful balance I've ever had. Before, it was all golf, golf, golf. I probably practise more tennis than golf now.

Has your marriage to Chrissy helped revitalise your golf game?

I wouldn't say it revitalised my game, I think it just revitalised my life. When you're more relaxed and you're happier, then everything else kind of makes it a little bit easier, too. Even when I go out there and practise, I practise with a little bit more intensity because I'm looking forward to going home. I would say it's a rub-on effect of the golf, no question.

You are a prolific golf course architect and are also designing three of the four courses at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Do you think your course designing knowledge had any part in the success at the Open this year?

I think it does help, and the one place where it helps the most are the greens. When you are designing a golf course, you've got to take the water off the green, and in most golf courses you have two to three places where you can take the water off the green. So, when you look at the places where the water will go, it gives you a good idea of where the blades of the grass will grow, and about the slopes. Yes, designing golf courses do make reading putts a little easier.

As a designer, you must be excited that the world's richest and most anticipated tournament is going to be played at your Earth course. It seems you made a few last-minute changes on the golf course after the tournament was announced. Can you tell us what were they and something about what is being called the 'toughest mile in golf' – the last four holes of the Earth course?

We made a few changes, but the layout is pretty much the same. We added a bit of length and tweaked a couple of greens to give the tournament staff a little more flexibility, which can help them make it a bit more challenging to the top-60 players who are going to be there for the tournament. As for the last four holes, it is exactly a mile. We have made it and we think it is pretty tough, but you will have to ask the players what they think after they have played the course.

So, what does this British Open do to your future? Are you OK with just going back to being a wine guy or are you becoming a full-time golfer?

Maybe I'm both now? No, I'm OK with everything right now. I am enjoying playing golf, but I am not going to play too many tournaments. I also take great pleasure from my business activities, too.

PROFILE: Greg Norman, Golfer and Designer

Two-time Major champion Greg Norman is perhaps one of the most influential player of all times – an extremely successful golfer (having spent 331 weeks on top of official world golf rankings, which is second only to Tiger Woods' 505), and an even more successful businessman with interests in golf course designs, real estates, golf equipment and accessories, clothing line, agriculture and horticulture, as well as cutting-edge scientific equipment like the GPS.