MOE NORMAN

Being an ‘old-schooler’ and a golfer I must pay tribute to perhaps at once the greatest and most unique golfer to ever play the game.  Meet Moe Norman (July 10, 1929-September 4, 2004).  He died at the same age I am now. 

If you never heard of him it may be for at least one of several reasons:  (1) He played most of his golf in his native Canada; (2) He played professionally on the P.G.A. tour in the United States in only twelve events ( all in 1979) before he got his feelings hurt because of thoughtless criticism of his unique and eccentric behavior. He was said to be autistic although he never went to a mental health professional to find out.  Of this experience he said, “Life just ate me up.  I couldn’t do what I wanted to do, and that’s what hurt me so I just quit [the PGA tour] and returned to where people cared about me.”; (3) He had many social anxieties and was very shy around people he did not trust—especially non-golfers who could not appreciate what he was doing; (4) Being a loner—he never married and said he dated a woman only three times in his life—or flew in airplanes from tournament to tournament but rather drove alone in his big Cadillac at his favorite speed of about 50 mph.

What did he do?  He was said, by his contemporary professional golfers, that he was the greatest ball-striker that ever lived.  Nobody could hit the ball repeatedly straighter than he.  Asked, I think, in the 1980’s when he last hit a ball out-of-bounds he said, “The last time I hit a ball out-of-bounds was in 1974.  The ball hit a sprinkler head and bounced out-of-bounds.” A few of his many records include these notable accomplishments:

·        3 rounds of 59

·        17 holes-in-one

·        9 double-eagles

·        Holds 33 course records for lowest score

·        Won 50 tour events in Canada

·        Won the Canadian Open 7 out of 8 years (1980-1987)

Most interesting are the stories and legends that have grown up around him.  In a one-of-a-kind interview with him, Guy Yocom (My Shot: The very best interviews from Golf Digest magazine, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 2007) recorded him as saying, “I’m good with numbers.  Number of courses played: 434.  Number of courses I can remember the exact hole yardages: 375.  Age when I saw my first doctor: 68.  Number of two-stroke penalties in one eleven-year period: only one—I hit a drive that went out of bounds by two feet.  Most balls hit in one day: 2,207.  Total balls hit in my lifetime: About five million, not counting chips and putts.” 

As a boy he was a caddie and a pin-setter in a bowling alley.  He was very poor and relates that, “Even in my late teens and early 20’s, when I got good enough to play in tournaments I slept in bunkers and hitchhiked to get from one place to the next.  Some golfers laughed at me and teased me constantly. . . ‘Where you sleeping tonight, Moe?  Nobody came to my rescue until I was 26.  I really resented that.”  “When money was dear, I’d play with the same ball until it wore out.  A balata-covered wound ball had exactly 5 rounds in it before it got knocked out-of-round or got too soft.  Then it was time to search the bushes for lost balls and root out a new one.”  Later when he became a professional, Titleist sponsored him and provided him golf clothing and golf balls.  Of the balls he said, “Why did they give me all these?  All I need is one.”  Another time he said, “If there was ever a tournament at midnight, I’d win it.  I know where to find my ball every time.”

Surely Moe was the “Rain Man” of Golf.

I understand there is a movie currently in the process of being made about him. 

A recent book about him was published: The Feeling of Greatness, by Tim O’Connor.