Greg Norman still loves Augusta and the Masters, despite it being the scene of his toughest defeats

Augusta National is the site of two of Greg Norman’s most heartbreaking moments from a glittering career. Some might hold a grudge against one of the world’s most famous courses. But not the Shark.

Norman faces defeat after Larry Hogan Mize’s freak chip shot.

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A return to the scene of his greatest heartbreak holds no fears for Australian golf icon Greg Norman.

“The Shark” was at Augusta National for last year’s US Masters and will watch the 83rd edition unfold on the tube at his Florida home this week.

“If anything I look back to Augusta as being a positive part of my life,” Norman told the Herald Sun.

“You know, I feel good. I enjoy watching what the players do, there’s only one winner, right? “And a cast of characters make up the rest of the tournament.

“I do like to watch the cast of characters making up the tournament because it’s intriguing.

“I won’t watch Thursday to Sunday, but I’ll watch Sunday if it’s intriguing — the full 18 holes.”

Norman faces defeat after Larry Hogan Mize’s freak chip shot.

Norman, the world’s No.1 player for 331 weeks during the 1980s and 1990s, won two Open Championships but endured an agonising history at the storeyed Augusta National Golf Club.

A freak chip-shot by American Larry Mize cost him victory in an infamous 1987 sudden death playoff, while he surrendered a six-stroke final-day lead to lose to Englishman Nick Faldo by five shots in 1996.

He finished runner-up in the Masters three times and the top-five eight times in 23 appearances from 1981-2009.

Asked if he loved Augusta or felt a sense of sadness as the tournament rolled around each year, Norman said: “Oh no, I love it. I’ve got a lot of friends up there who are members and I enjoy Augusta National as a club and the way it’s run.

“I enjoy what the Masters is doing from a branding position around the world. I love what they are doing for kids golf and now what they are doing for women’s golf.

“Everybody knows what the Masters are all about — it’s one of the best majors of them all — but the way they’ve opened it up to all of us is pretty special.”

Norman (L) walks off the 18th green with England’s Nick Faldo after his famous collapse in 1996. Picture: AP

Norman, 64, said the Masters was as much a battle of the mind as a tussle with the Alister Mackenzie-Bobby Jones designed par-72 — golf’s only permanent major championship venue.

“It’s the first major of the year, it’s a very emotional place, people get excited about going there,” he said.

“Whether you have won there before or you haven’t won, every time you go there you feel it.

“So you’ve just got to park your emotions.

Norman sinks to his knees in frustration during his 1996 meltdown. Picture: Allsport

“The golf course is heaven for a player — we all love to play it — although Ernie Els said something negative about it the other month, and I thought: ‘Wow, that was a surprising comment’. He and Lee Trevino are the only two that I can think of who would have a negative comment about Augusta.”

Pressed on his favourite Masters memory, Norman ponders before nominating his first trip down Magnolia Lane.

“My very first time there in ’81,” Norman said.

“Everybody’s excited when you turn pro and if you’re good enough you want to play at Augusta and you want to play the Open Championship.

“They were the two that I really wanted to get into.

“For me, I was leading after two rounds in my very first (Masters) tournament, so that was a pretty awe-inspiring moment because I was playing with (Jack) Nicklaus and those guys and came close to winning that golf tournament the first time.”

Larry Mize reacts after his extraordinary chip-in. Picture: David Cannon /Allsport

He finished fourth that year on debut and earned the nickname “The Great White Shark” from the assembled US media because of his blonde shock of hair and yarns about encounters with sharks off the coast of Queensland.

Norman said Augusta, host of the Masters since 1934, gave no respite for players across the full 18 holes.

“I don’t think there’s a weak hole out there to tell you the truth, I really don’t. The seventh green I loved,” he said.

Proving he harbours no demons from his Masters past, Norman revealed he played a round at Augusta with his son Greg Jr last year.

On the state of the game that made him a legend, Norman said: “I’m very happy. Golf is in a great place right now.

“Enjoy Augusta for me will ya. Thanks mate.”