“I got to play with him, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience in the end.” Those were the words Lucas Parsons used when discussing his first experience with Greg Norman. Parsons, the 1992 World Amateur Team Championships record holder with a score of 65, participated in the inaugural Greg Norman Holden International. He was excited to meet his idol, Greg Norman, but the experience fell short of his expectations.

It was not that the host was not trying to be nice, but he ended up behaving rudely with the retired tour pro in the opening round. The 1993 Open Championship winner was in a bad mood. However, his behavior that week wasn’t only about his mood, but had a deeper meaning that Parsons revealed in an interaction with Talk Birdie To Me.

“He always told the story about, apparently, when he played Jack Nicklaus for the first time, Jack did it to him,” said Parsons. He was referring to the inaugural event when Norman, the tournament host and world No.1 back then, had paired Parsons with himself and two-time major winner Ray Floyd. Parsons stepped onto the first tee, eager to impress his idol, but what followed left a lasting scar.

The round began with a friendly handshake, but the host’s mood soured as the round went on. During the 18th hole, Parsons used a wedge to get his ball out of a bunker. Norman, convinced the wedge had left marks that interfered with his putt, unleashed a verbal tirade.

The golfing world celebrates Nicklaus for his sportsmanship. He conceded a short putt to Tony Jacklin during the 1969 Ryder Cup. This act of his is one of the greatest displays of sportsmanship, which makes it hard to believe that Jack could have done something like that.

However, Greg and Nicklaus have played together on multiple occasions. The two first played together for the two opening rounds at the 1976 Australian Open. The two-time major winner was lucky to get words of wisdom from Nicklaus, whom he idolised. That said, their relationship has been through a rollercoaster after the emergence of LIV Golf. Greg even called Nicklaus a hypocrite during the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series. Norman said Nicklaus first gave his blessing to the league, but later publicly distanced himself.

The 18 major championships and 73 PGA Tour victories holder reciprocated similar thoughts. During an event at St. Andrews in 2022, Jack said that Greg is an icon and a long-time friend. However, they don’t see eye-to-eye because of different views on LIV Golf.

Regardless of whether Jack did something like this to Norman, was his awful behavior with Parsons correct? Although Parsons said that he was pretty gutted, he returned to the same stage years later and wrote a far more satisfying chapter.

Parsons’s redemption at Greg Norman’s own event

What started in 1993 as a painful memory for Parsons took a sweet twist in 2000 when he played the Greg Norman Holden International again and won. Norman, who held the World No. 1 ranking for 331 weeks, did not make the cut this time. Parsons played 70, 66, 70, and 67 in the four rounds to win with 273. He finished 19 under par and outpaced fellow Australian Peter Senior, the four-time Order of Merit winner, by four strokes.

This was Parsons’ only European Tour win. While Parsons was a star in the amateur circuit, he could not replicate his success in the pro tournaments. Besides this European Tour win, he has only four titles in the PGA of Australia under his belt. And amidst all this, one could only wonder how the mind games played at the inaugural Greg Norman Holden International affected his pro career.