Greg Norman on his plans to return to Australia and his Olympic ambitions

Greg Norman is planning to return to Australia and he would be open to playing a part in future Olympics if officials wanted him to be involved.

Greg Norman wants to spend his final days in Australia — and live to 115

The Great White Shark is coming home. Not today, not tomorrow, not even next week. But Greg Norman plans to be back living in Australia soon enough, determined to spend his final days in the land of his birth.

“I will be home,” Norman told The Weekend Australian. “I made some moves in the last six months over here in the United States that give me the flexibility to be able to do what I need to do.

“It is not as easy as coming home tomorrow and saying I will see you there. I have a business, I have a lot of things I have to work around to get there.

“I definitely will be coming home. I actually want to spend my final days on this earth in Australia. It’s not morbid — trust me, I am going to live to 115.

“I still have a lot of time in my life to enjoy parts of Australia that I have been and seen.”

Asked when he planned to call Australia home once again, Norman replied: “It will be less than five (years) and more than two.”

Either way, it will be soon enough when you consider it has been 40 years since Norman lived in Australia. Having departed these shores to focus on his golf career, Norman cultivated an empire overseas.

He isn’t resting on his laurels either. In coming months, he is planning to expand his real estate operations to Australia and intends to bring his wine business back as well.

His impending return to the land of his birth gives golf in this country the chance to tap into one of the most successful sportsmen Australia has produced.

A two-time major winner, Norman will have more time on his hands when he returns given he plans to scale back his involvement in his business.

Surely golf in this country would be silly not to reach out.

“I am still going to be very active,” Norman said.

It begs the question whether he would consider becoming the Olympic team captain down the track. Fellow major winner Ian Baker-Finch filled the role in Rio five years ago and will do so again in Tokyo later this year.

Norman has been a captain with the international team at the Presidents Cup and was a staunch advocate for golf being back in the Olympics. Few campaigned as hard for as long.

You get the feeling he would seriously consider being involved if golf powerbrokers asked him to lead an Australian team into an Olympics in the future.

“I have never been asked,” Norman said. “It is up to other people to make that decision, not me. Of course I would consider it if I had the honour to be asked.
“I have always been a big believer in golf being in the Olympics since back to the mid-90s with Seve Ballesteros.

“Seve was the one who got me into it. We were very pro getting golf back into the Olympics. I was asked by the Chinese government to help the Chinese team prepare for the Olympics in Rio.

“My homeland didn’t (ask). I would definitely consider it.”

As for Australia’s chances in Tokyo, where Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman are expected to represent their country, Norman likes their chances.

“They won that team event just recently,” he said. “It is like flip and flop. They are two great characters. Love both of the guys. I enjoy their banter and the way they interact.

“I love their approach to the game of golf. I wish them well. I hope they both go gold and silver.”