Former World No 1 Greg Norman believes fellow Australian Adam Scott can use his Masters victory to propel his career to even greater heights.
Scott saw off Angel Cabrera with a birdie at the second hole of a sudden-death play-off on Sunday night to become the first Australian to claim the Green Jacket.
Following his victory, Scott said he would seek out Norman for a beer to discuss his triumph, and the two-time Open champion believes his countryman can now follow in his footsteps by claiming more major titles.
He said in a statement: “Adam is a great player and I’m confident this victory will catapult him to win more majors.
“It will not surprise me if he wins more major championships than any other Australian golfer in history. He’s not a guy that wants to sit back and relax and rest on his laurels.
“He has incredible fire within his system. And a victory like this is going to give him tremendous confidence as he moves forward in his career.”
It was a good week for the Australians at Augusta with Jason Day and Marc Leishman both finishing in the top five and Norman, who finished as a runner-up for the Masters title three times, believes the performances have provided a huge fillip for golf Down Under.
“It gave me so much pride to look up at the leaderboard and see three Aussie flags on there, and I was on the edge of my seat all afternoon watching the Masters,” he said.
Scott was quick to hail the influence of Norman in the aftermath of his victory, and was hoping to arrange a meeting with the man who he described as an ‘icon’.
He added: “It’s amazing that it’s come down to me today, Marc and Jason Day, it could have been any of us.
“But there was one guy that inspired a nation of golfers and that’s Greg Norman. He’s been incredible to me and all the young golfers in Australia and part of this definitely belongs to him.”