The Great White Shark is smitten, and suddenly a love-struck Greg Norman is scenting Open Championship blood. He won't concede that, after a stunning level par round of 70 at Royal Birkdale, he was heading into the second day of the tournament as a genuine contender for a third title.

Despite lying just one shot shy of the lead, he insisted: "I've got to keep my expectations low. I'm just going to go out there and play it one shot at a time."

But if Norman's new wife, the tennis legend Chris Evert, again had said the right things over breakfast this morning it would be no surprise to see the 53-year-old Australian go into the weekend with one eye on the Claret Jug.

"I love being around Chrissy," he said. "She's a great motivator for me and it is interesting when you get in that situation where she was a former No1, and obviously I was, and we can sit down and talk. Before the first round, the words she said really helped me play."

Can this really be the same Norman whose hard-nosed business acumen has built up a multifaceted empire worth billions?

Is this the same golfer whose swashbuckling ruthlessness on the course was rewarded with 331 weeks as the world's top player and more than 80 professional titles including the Opens at Turnberry in 1986 and at Royal St George's seven summers later?

It certainly is. But wait, he hasn't finished with his own take on Mills and Boon. One month after a lavish beachfront ceremony in the Bahamas, Norman said of his marriage: "I wouldn't say it has revitalised my golf game, I think it has just revitalised my life.

"When you're more relaxed and you're happier, then everything else is kind of easier, too. Even when I go out there and practise, you practise with a little bit more intensity over a short period of time because, okay, I'm looking forward to going home.

"My life is very much more in balance than it has ever been. It's the first time in my life I've probably got the most beautiful balance I've ever had.

"I enjoy playing golf, and I enjoy spending time at home with Chrissy and with my kids."

Tall, quite clearly fit, and dressed from cap to toe in black, the Norman who strode the fairways of Royal Birkdale yesterday was a throwback to the Norman of old when his presence on a course would intimidate all but his nemesis Nick Faldo.

Indeed, it is three years since he played in a major, at St Andrews in 2005 when he finished tied for 60th. And he won't be competing in many more.

"My mind still wants to play," said Norman.

"But my body doesn't want to practise. I've gone through enough pain and surgery over the last four, five, six years that I just don't want to do it anymore.

"Believe me, I still enjoy playing. But I don't enjoy standing out there on the driving range for up to six hours a day."

Don't let him fool you. Norman may no longer have the sheer strength to smash the ball as far as countryman Adam Scott, the world No4 who is also level par going into the second round at Birkdale, but he can still outsmart most of the young pretenders.

The manner in which Norman managed the testing weather yesterday proved the point. He said: "The conditions were very, very trying and all I was trying to do was put the club face square on the ball.

"I wasn't trying to manoeuvre the ball that much. I was trying to put the ball on certain parts of the greens and take what I got, whether it was a 20-footer or closer.

"I feel like the speed of the greens are good for me right now. I can give the ball a little more of a hit with the putter, which is a good feeling when you haven't had a lot of tournament play under your belt."

On a day when so many other great players were reduced to looking like Sunday hackers, Norman's performance was met with rapturous applause particularly from stands still packed as he finished his round in the dimming light of evening.

"That's what is so special about playing golf in this part of the world," he said. "The acceptance and the understanding and the appreciation of the galleries is second to none.

"From the players' perspective that's what really gives you more goose bumps than anywhere else in the world. My first round is ending at six o'clock at night and for the people to stand and cheer tells you they appreciate what you've been doing."

With that he was gone, back to his wife and his new life.