Norman brings joy in defeat

worked as hard. Others have been unable to resist the lure of travelling all over the globe collecting appearance fees for exhibiting their skills on courses and in tournaments that were not likely to improve their chances of winning what is The Open of the world.

Harrington can now justifiably claim to be the first player of the new generation to stand as an equal beside Nick Faldo, Severiano Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Jose-Maria Olazabal, the six great Europeans who bought the game to life on their continent in the 1980s.

Robert Allenby was the best of Australians not playing in the British Senior Open at Troon this week at 292 and a tie for seventh. Adam Scott was at 293 and tied for 16th.

They were decent performances but it was Norman who gave a whole new generation of golf followers the opportunity to understand what it was like to follow an irreplaceable man.

We can only hope they get to see him play at home once more because this week proved there is still much worth observing.