Faldo and Norman signal comeback intentions

Last year's comeback kings in global golf were John Daly, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam, who all managed to return to the winner's circle after a minimum of four winless years.

Daly triumphed in the 2001 BMW International Open in Munich for his first title since the 1995 British Open and Langer won twice in Europe for his first successes since 1997.

Woosnam, also winless since 1997, rolled back the years last October as he captured his third World Match Play Championship at Wentworth at the venerable age of 43.

This year, the early front-runners for the comeback accolade are multiple major winners Nick Faldo and Greg Norman, who displayed their best tournament form for some time on the way to a share of sixth place at the Heineken Classic in Melbourne on Sunday.

Faldo had also finished in the top 10 the previous week, at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, and the three times British Open champion believes a first tournament victory since 1997 may not be that far away.

"It's not a fluke -- my swing has made a good leap forward," the 44-year-old Briton said in Melbourne.

"I've learned an awful lot of things and I have a good idea what to work on now."

BETTER BALANCE

The former world number one, whose last win came at the 1997 Nissan Open in Los Angeles, seems to have found a much better balance in his working life.

Not only is he prepared to share a joke or two on the course these days -- a distinct no-no in the recent past with his single-minded focus on the game -- but he is successfully mixing golf course design and the mentoring of promising youngsters with his own tournament play.

His golf course projects take him all over the world and, apart from his own return to impressive playing form, the likes of Nick Dougherty seem set for exciting futures in world golf as a result of his guidance and advice.

Faldo is now enjoying a brief break from tournament play but hopes to regain his early-season form later this month at the Singapore Masters, Malaysian Open and then at the Dubai Desert Classic in early March.

Twice British Open champion Norman is attempting to bounce back from a different set of circumstances, having struggled for both form and fitness over the past four years.

The former world number one experienced a quiet 1999 after a curtailed 1998 season due to surgery to remove bone spurs from his left shoulder.

He played only 11 times on last year's U.S. Tour, thereby forfeiting his membership. Although he came fourth at the Bay Hill Invitational in March, he never finished higher than 27th for the rest of the season.

SPIRALLNG FORM

By the end of the year the man popularly known as the Great White Shark had crashed to 113th in the official world rankings.

Without a tournament victory since 1998, Norman felt he was starting to regain his confidence in Melbourne last week.

"I've got a lot of strength in my mind that I can compete," he said after producing rounds of 69, 67, 73 and 69.

"I felt pretty good about my chances during the week but just didn't quite get it all together on the last day.

"It doesn't really matter how long it's been since you've won a golf tournament. Jack Nicklaus went a couple of years without winning a golf event and everybody goes through those times.

"All in all it was a good week, I just know I need a little bit more match practice."

The golfing world can now only wait and watch. But, if Faldo and Norman can both rediscover their winnings ways during the course of the year, it will be well worth the wait.