Q&A Greg Norman

Golf Monthly spoke to Greg Norman after his sensational tilt at the 2008 Open Championship for the lowdown on his gear line-up, his views on golf club technology and thoughts on an epic week at Royal Birkdale.

To what extent do you think modern equipment enabled you to do what you did at Birkdale last week?

Clearly, technology plays a big part in the game of golf. My metal woods utilize every bit of technology available today, but by contrast, my irons are forged blades, very traditional, yet they enable me to work the ball, which I couldn't do with some of the peripheral weighted game improvement clubs. MacGregor has done an excellent job of harnessing today's technology without loosing the handcrafted nature of what makes truly great irons.

From driver to ball, how did you choose your Birkdale line-up and did it it vary at all from Thursday to Sunday?

Given the conditions at Birkdale, we took great care into matching the spin rate of my MacGregor MT 460 Driver with the ball I played. This is something every golfer does, especially when the conditions are as severe as they were at Birkdale.

Even with realistically low expectations, how easy was it for you to stay as relaxed on the last day as you obviously had been over the first three days?

I m at a very happy place in my life and in my mind. That helped keep me very relaxed and focused during the tournament.

If you'd won, do you think it would have been good for the game, or would it perhaps have reflected badly on the ability of today's top young players to adapt to the most testing conditions?

Sure, it would have been tremendous for the game had I won. But I believe my third place finish and overall performance was good for the game. It showed younger players that they can be a part of this game for many years to come.

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