Norman hopes to restore Australian Open glory days

Greg Norman has committed to play the Australian Open for the next three years as part of a bid to lift the stature of the golf tournament.

Norman, a former world number one, is currently only a part-time player. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper said securing his entry was a coup for the organisers of the tournament, Golf Australia and the New South Wales Government, after the Australian Masters in Victoria beat them in getting Tiger Woods to enter.

"It's the love of the sport and the love of the country", said Norman, adding "you hope that the top Australian players will support it.

"âI've been a huge proponent of that for more than 30 years. It's up to the players. We'll give them the opportunity. We'll tell them how great the Australian Open is, to some of the (international) players who haven't been here. We can only entice them the way everybody else entices them. Hopefully we'll be successful."