NO ONE got near Greg Norman. He began the last round of the Australian Open leading by four shots, he stretched it to eight and won his first tournament since the Doral Ryder Open in Florida in March.

A final round of 69, three under par, gave him a total of 280, eight under. He was the only man to beat par over The Australian course, one of the toughest in the southern hemisphere.

Wayne Grady, eight behind at the start of the day, also had a 69 which lifted him to second on level par, while David Smail of New Zealand was third on 290, two over.

The leading European was Klas Eriksson despite a final round of 76, which gave him fourth.

Ireland's Paul McGinley - he gets married next Monday - went some way to rescuing what had been a poorish week for him with weekend rounds of 72,70. That gave him. a tie for fifth, with Tiger Woods, Grant Waite and Peter O'Malley, and prize money of £18,000.

McGinley's final round of two under par 70 was his best of the championship. He picked up four birdies, three over the back nine, his only blemish being bogies at the second and fifth.

"I played very well over the weekend, hitting the ball very well and it was a nice way to finish what has been a good year for me," said McGinley.

"The course is still a tough golf course. It's over 7,000 yards long and it was playing all of that, every day.

But it's nice to finish the way I did, particularly after the 76 in the first round and to be nine shots back against a player like Norman really knocked me out of the tournament."

He said he had great support from. the Irish who live in Sydney. "They were just so great and helped me hang in well over the weekend when I was able to find a bit of form as the weather warmed up."

Dutchman Rolf Muntz, the 1990 Amateur Champion, was 14th on 295, David Howell 19th with one stroke more and Richard Boxall 26th another stroke adrift. Gary Evans was poised for a decent final round but the lake at the 18th intervened, he took an eight and finished 47th, on 301.

Norman, his fifth win in this championship, won A$189,470. He also reassured both himself and his public - and his sponsors - that there is life in this 41-year-old yet.

After the Augusta debacle - Nick Faldo turned a six-shot deficit into a five-stroke win - Norman had begun to talk in increasingly loving terms about the attractions of course design over those of competing. This win will do him good, not because he beat anyone of real note, but because, in difficult conditions, he maintained his concentration.

After three days of wind and rain yesterday was sunny. Said Norman afterwards "I was nervous because I. knew I had to get the job done. But no one was going to get inside my head today.

By his own high standards, Tiger Woods was "pretty awful" during his first Australian trip. During the four rounds over The Australian he had 17 birdies, 15 bogies and three double bogies, which, while it delivered him a place in the top 10, was 12 behind Norman.

Despite being 11 behind Norman. when he began the last round he still harboured thoughts of winning. "I thought if I could get round in 64 or 50 and put it up on the leader-board early then you never know what I might happen. But I didn't birdie the first and I bogied the second which is not the start you need if you're going to make a run at it."

The Woods optimism in these matters is fuelled by the knowledge of what happens on the rare days. when it all comes together. He insists that despite having won two of his first nine events as a professional, he has not approached his best since leaving the amateur ranks.

"My best performance in 1996," he said, "was in a collegiate event at Big Canyon Country Club at Newport Beach in California. We played 36 holes in a day and I scored 61, 65 .which was 18 under. I had 18 birdies, one eagle and two bogies and I think that was pretty close to being. pretty good."

He knows, though, that you do not have to operate in the stratosphere to win. "Ask Jack Nicklaus," said a Woods who clearly has, "how many of his majors were won with his `A' game and he'll tell you zero. He won them with his mind, with his course management."

That, of course, is largely true but it takes most golfers a lifetime to find it out. The thought of a 20-year-old Tiger not just knowing it but applying it is a frightening thought to take into 1997.