23. Greg Norman & Mark Broadie: Why Golf Beats an Orgasm and Why Data Beats Everything

The episode explores why golf is more than just a sport—it's a profound metaphor for life, mastery, and the pursuit of excellence. Greg Norman, the legendary 'Shark,' shares how his obsession with golf began as a childhood dream deferred, leading to a midlife quest to make the Champions Tour despite never achieving it. His journey reveals a deep love for the game, where the perfect shot feels better than an orgasm, and the discipline of practice—5 million balls hit over a career—was the true engine of his success. Yet Norman also admits he hated the spotlight, showing that greatness isn't just about skill but about comfort with identity and purpose. In contrast, Mark Broadie, the data wizard of golf, transformed the sport with 'strokes gained'—a metric that measures performance relative to the average pro, turning vague stats like 'putts per round' into a unified, intuitive language of golf. His breakthrough came not from persuasion, but from a clever psychological trick: letting golf influencers choose between two rankings without knowing which was the new data-driven one. The result? Instant adoption. Broadie’s data also shattered myths: driving and ball striking matter far more than putting, and amateurs often lose strokes not from bad swings, but from poor hazard management. Most provocatively, Broadie argues that golf should be scored differently—rewarding hero shots with points, not strokes—so players focus on memorable, joyful moments rather than punishing scores.