GREG NORMAN made a late decision to compete in the £700,000 Desert Classic which starts here at the Emirates Club this morning. The Shark does those sort of impromptu things. As he explained: "I dropped into Morocco for a dinner engagement but came home the next morning, so I only was there for 12 hours."
Norman was detailing his activities since early last month when, in his last tournament outing, he won $1 million by beating Scott Hoch in the final of the Andersen Consulting World Championship. Now he is attempting to win a title that eluded him in 1994, when Ernie Els strolled to victory.
As Ireland's Des Smyth put it: "When you have a setup like this, you'll always get the top guys coming back." Indeed it is small wonder, given delightful sunshine and temperatures rising into the high seventies. And a severe winter has left the course largely defenceless, with very little rough to speak of.
"I'm here because they invited me (code for handsome appearance money) and I needed some rounds under my belt before going back to Doral (next week)," added Norman, who was not due to return to action before Florida. "I've played only one full round of golf since the Andersen and that was yesterday (Tuesday)."
He went on: "I think the hunger to compete is always there. I wad just speaking to Ollie (Jose Maria Olazabal) and I asked him if he missed it and he said `yeah, I missed it, I missed the competition. I think that's the same with an athlete. It's a challenge every time you play."
On this occasion, the challenge will be heightened by the presence of the holder, Colin Montgomerie, and from other leading European campaigners such as Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Costantino Rocca and, one hopes, Olazabal. And a strong Irish line up is led by Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley.
"I didn't miss a six foot putt here for the four days last year," said Mongomerie, reflecting wistfully on a masterly performance in his first event of the 1996 season. "If I could say the same about every tournament, I'd win them all. But the fact is that you're going to miss three, four or five (such putts) and that's just enough to lose.
Just in case we might have picked up the wrong impression, however, he quickly added: "There's no self doubt in my game at the moment. I have learned to accept that everything: is not going to go according to plan all of the time." It's true, Monty has really changed!
His liking for this beautifully conditioned course is reflected in the fact that prior to last year's victory, he was runner up to Fred Couples in 1995. And he covered those last eight rounds in a cumulative 35 under par, including a second round 63 two years ago, when he was two strokes outside the course record of 61 set by Els.
In a way, the challenge this week is not unlike that at Augusta National, though the Emirates is relatively flat. The similarity lies in the fact that both courses reward long, moderately straight hitting and a steady nerve on the greens. All of the four par fives here are reachable, including the 547 yard 18th.
At that stage, the greens were quite fast, with a Stimpmeter reading of about 10. But in a fresh breeze, they will become firmer and faster by the weekend.
No fewer than 10 of Europe's triumphant Ryder Cup team from two years ago are in pursuit of a top prize of £116,660: it would have been 11 but for the late withdrawal of Sam Torrance. As it happens, the only other absentee is Nick Faldo.
The Emirates course, which opened for play in 1988, was the first all grass golf course in the Middle East. Indeed the lushness of the complex and its spectacularly imposing clubhouse - built at a cost of £15 million - serve simply to emphasise that there: need be no shortage of crops or accommodation in the world, provided sufficient money is applied to the problem.
Though the scoring is likely to be quite low, it offers the troubled Ryder Cup captain, Seven Ballesteros, an ideal opportunity of getting his game back into some reasonable shape. The signs were moderately encouraging when he shot 12 straight pars in yesterday's mist-curtailed pro am, but the player himself remained very much down at heel.
Norman, who played with Ballesteros here on Tuesday, was not offering any quick fixes. "We hate to see a good player going through bad spells and Seve's too good a player to be as confused as he is," said the Shark.
Mental strength is certainly a huge factor in tournament golf, as Harrington's success clearly illustrates. Montgomerie also has it in abundance, which makes him the logical favourite this weeks.
