For many of us, golf is a sport of middle age - and older. Many people play tennis until a certain age and then take up golf. As the legendary Gary Player - now 71 years old and still very fit - once told me: "Golf is a game you can play when you grow old and fat. For those who know me, you may think it was a pointed remark.Two weeks ago, golf superstar Greg Norman spent a few days in Egypt at the end of his honeymoon with new bride Chris Evert. For those of us who had seen him on an earlier trip to oversee the course his company designed for SODIC's spectacular Allegria development off the Alexandria desert highway, Norman seemed like a changed man - cheery, animated, smiling, signing autographs, and willing to be photographed endlessly with kids and middle-aged ladies.We asked him if now that his professional golf career was winding down was he thinking of taking up another sport, like, for example, tennis. His new wife - she insisted I call her Chrissie - was suitably amused by the question; Greg ignored the cuteness and proceeded to tell us that he was actually becoming more active as a player, rattling off the tournaments he was about to play.Chrissie allowed as how Greg was a pretty good tennis player and that he was teaching her how to play golf. Two former top professional athletes helping each other keep active in middle age.The Normans left Cairo the following day headed to Royal Birkdale and the British Open. Two of Egypt's Vodafone Golf Series winners and their spouses - Sophie and Farid Issa, and Hye Sook and Han Soo Lim - followed a few days later to watch the action. To be honest, we didn't think much more about Norman and his chances until the first round at that cold, rainy, windswept links course on the Irish Sea, just up the road from Liverpool.Half way through the first round, we started watching the scores. What's this? Greg Norman in the lead? It couldn't possibly last. But it did. He stayed atop the leaderboard for three days and joined defending champion Padraig Harrington in the last twosome of the final round. Could a 53-year-old Australian become the oldest golfer ever to win a major championship, a full five years senior to the man who held this record?Sparing the suspense; it did not happen. Harrington finished with birdies and even an eagle on the back nine to run away with the claret jug. It was Harrington who set a record, becoming the first Irish golfer to win back-to-back British Opens. Norman had to settle for a share of third place and a paltry $500,000+ in winnings.After the formalities were over, Greg told a television interviewer that golfing four days in driving wind and rain took its toll. He was, indeed, a bit tired out at the end. "My legs just can't do what they used to do, he said.But the story does not end here. Greg went on to place fifth in the British Senior Open the following week, and then flew to the US to play in the US Seniors Open, where he finished fourth. In just three weeks of golfing, Norman has added more than $700,000 to his bank account. That's more prize money than he has earned playing golf for the past five years.So, what is the moral of this story? If your golfing fortunes are lagging, find a retired tennis star who can inspire you to new heights. Good luck Greg and Chrissie.
