Tue Oct 13, 2009 2:34 pm EDT

There's a well-worn but still true saying in poker that if you can't spot the sucker at your table in the first half-hour, you are the sucker. I don't doubt Greg Norman has played a lot of poker in his life, and probably very well, but he still strikes me as the kind of guy who'd go all in with a great hand but forget that a flush beats a straight.
Which is why I'd like to see Norman captain the International team again in Australia. No, not because I think he'd shoot himself in the foot -- although I do -- but because I'd like to see Norman finally get his shot at redemption.
Look, it's tough to feel sorry for Norman; the guy owns property and businesses that have brought him a nine-figure fortune. His "job" is playing golf. Even so, he's got to be Exhibit A for why golf's a cruel, heartless mistress. We don't need to even give his Masters disaster more than a passing reference, but he was in the hunt at last year's British Open until the last few holes, another of the many times everything has aligned for Norman ... and everything has fallen apart.
This Presidents Cup, Norman had the opportunity to transition smoothly into an elder-statesman role ... and, unfortunately, he dropped the opportunity as if it was greased. His captain's pick of Adam Scott was strange but, in some backward way, defensible if you figure that maybe he was trying to restart Scott's career.
But then came the matches themselves, and Norman appeared completely overmatched. The U.S. built a strong lead, and Norman responded by sending out some of his weakest players to both start and wrap the Sunday singles matches. It was a peculiar move, but utterly characteristic of Norman.
Here's the thing. I don't bear the guy any ill will; hell, I'm jealous as heck of the guy. Still, I'd like to see him finish his career as something more than a punch line, something more than just the guy who gets brought up, along with the 2004 Yankees and Jean Van De Velde, whenever "choking" gets mentioned.
So I want him to get another shot at captaining the Internationals. Learn from your mistakes, Greg. Bring on some lunatic golfers that nobody's seen on these shores, and throw in a few celebs to get the blood pumping. You can do it, Shark. Just don't think too much about it.
Devil Ball is a golf blog edited by Jay Busbee. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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31 Comments
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I have a better idea. Let's have YOU captain the team -- and we'll see how things work out.
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Poster #2 - First sign of someone being a racist is when they bring "race" into conversation where it doesn't belong. You injected race into your comments without cause or relevance. What is happening to Indians in Australia should not happen but has no relevance in Golf.
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Boo ! Hoo ! Puleeze pass the hankies !
You ' re crying for the Shark, indeed !
Just wondering if he gets another chance.
I dunno ... wait and see ....
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2001 World Golf Hall of Fame Inductee
2-time British Open Champion (1986 Turnberry, 1993 Royal St. Georges)
5-time Byron Nelson Award winner for the lowest adjusted scoring average (1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995) Awarded by the PGA Tour
3-time Vardon Trophy winner for the lowest adjusted scoring average (1989, 1990, 1994) Awarded by the PGA of America
3-time Arnold Palmer Award winner (1986, 1990, 1995)
1995 Jack Nicklaus Award winner PGA Tour Player of the Year
1995 PGA Player of the Year Award winner PGA of America's top PGA Tour player
Held No. 1 World Ranking for 331 weeks
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And another easy win for the US Team. lol
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http://myteamrivals.typepad.com/pga/blog_index.html
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