‘I Do Regret Doing..’: After a Nasty Altercation With a Fan, Greg Norman Publicly Apologized for His Irresponsible Actions in 1997

Fans are an integral part of a golf tournament. No event is complete without at least a couple of them shouting ‘fore’ and ‘get in the hole’ while a golfer takes his shot. Notably, they are not the only words fans yell during an event; it depends on who their favorites are and not. Being one of the greats at the time, Greg Norman was not new to this behavior of the audience members. Nonetheless, he once misheard one such fan-yelling, and what happened after was nothing anyone would have ever dreamed of! 

“Chum is in the water, Greg!” A fan of the Australian golfer yelled, thinking it would encourage him to make a good putt. Notably, ‘The Shark’ and ‘The Great White Shark’ are Greg Norman‘s nicknames, and the audience member thought his cry would cheer up his favorite golfer. However, the Aussie’s reaction was not what the fan had expected from him as a response. 

According to the tampabay.com article, the golfer’s reply to the fan was an obscene gesture before walking off from the green. 

Greg Norman later regretted his actions toward the fan

A couple of actions from the 1997 Kemper Open made The Shark the center of attention, and one of them was his obscene gesture towards the fan for encouraging him on a green in the final round. 

In a later interview, Norman revealed that he misheard the fan as “Chunk it in the water.” He explained that the final-round pressure and his ambition to win the event led him to reciprocate a fan’s emotion the way he did. “Unless you’ve been in that situation,” he added, “you don’t understand it.” 

Read more: Deeply Perplexed Greg Norman Came Clean on Bizarre and ‘Crazy’ Situation With Tiger Woods 2 Years Ago

Furthermore, the current LIV Golf CEO said, “I do regret doing what I did.” Moreover, he explained that since he decorates the “role model” image in the golf community, he shouldn’t have done what he did on No. 17. “I know I have the responsibility,” he added. “And that wasn’t a good image to portray.” 

The 1997 Kemper Open was a challenge for ‘The Shark’ in too many ways

The fan interaction was not the only thing that went wrong for the Australian golfer at the Kemper Open in 1997. Norman got furious and yelled at the announcer of the event after he made a joke about President Clinton’s accidental fall at the golfer’s Hobe Sound home earlier that year while introducing the golfer. 

The two controversial actions would never have affected him as much if he had won the title, which he won previously. However, all he could secure was a T3 position at the event. 

Going into the Sunday round, the 2-time major champion was not in the right mindset. It caused him to behave rudely to the fan, for which he later apologized publicly to the fan and reflected upon his actions.

Watch This Story: Chris Evert’s Ex-husband Andy Mill Publicly Lashed Out at His Once Best Friend Greg Norman in 2007