Career highlights
- Canadian Amateur Championship winner (1955, 1956)
- 55 career Canadian Tour event victories
- Canadian PGA Championship winner (1966, 1974)
- Canadian PGA Seniors' Championship winner (1979 - 1985, 1987)
- 33 course records
- 17 holes in one
- Inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995
- Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2006
- Results in the Masters Tournament
- 1956: Shot 75 & 78 (153 total) then withdrew.
- 1957: Shot 77 & 74 (151 total) missing the cut by one stroke. This was the first year of cuts after the second round.
Biography
Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, Norman played briefly in the PGA Tour but due to shyness and a preference to stay in Canada, he stayed in Ontario rather than travel.
Norman's play, along with his way of dressing, were both described as unconventional. He devised what is known as "The Norman Swing"—very short backswing and very short follow-through which produced an amazingly accurate ball placement. He played extremely fast, sometimes not even slowing to line up his putts. He was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995. He never took a golfing lesson. It is even said that on one hole his caddy told him he could get to the green with a driver and a nine iron. Naturally, he hit off the tee with his nine iron and then onto the green with his driver.
Norman's skills as a ball striker are legendary. Sam Snead, himself a great golfer, once described Norman as the greatest striker of the ball. In January 2005, Tiger Woods told Golf Digest's Jamie Diaz that only two golfers in history "owned their swing": Moe Norman and Ben Hogan. Stated Woods, "I want to own mine."
Norman died in a Kitchener hospital from congestive heart failure. He had suffered from congestive heart failure since having heart bypass surgery six years earlier. He also had a heart attack two years before his death.
Honoring the Legend of Moe Norman
Norman is recognized as one of golf's most colorful personalities, as well as perhaps the best ball-striker golf has ever known. Despite his unorthodox setup which placed his right forearm on the plane of the clubshaft, he did not "swing on one plane", contrary to poplular belief. If carefully viewed it should be clear that his clubhead does not travel on a single plane throughout. (like a hoolahoop on an angle) In his backswing, the clubhead comes underneath the path it travels in his downswing. This is a very orthodox move and is seen in countless Hall Of Fame golfers and current touring pros. It should be noted however that Norman did more or less return to his address clubshaft plane, at impact.
In the 1990s, respect and financial security finally arrived. Natural Golf and Titleist became a sponsor of Norman in 1994 and proved to be one of his most devoted supporters, right through until his death. He conducted clinics for Natural Golf and proudly wore the logo during his many appearances on TV and for articles in magazines.
In 1999, Barry Morrow, Oscar winning screenwriter for the movie Rain Man, completed Dance The Green, the screenplay of Moe Norman's life. The movie is scheduled to begin production this year (2010). Giovanni Ribisi (The Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, Avatar (2010)) is scheduled to play the part of Moe in the movie.
Today, Norman's Legacy is represented by Todd Graves and the Graves Golf Academy. With Academy locations in Orlando, Florida and Edmond, Oklahoma the Graves Golf Academy conducts clinics and schools teaching Norman's swing around the United States.
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