Losing was never Greg Norman’s strongest suit. It isn’t about what his 88 professional victories indicate, but what all of the near misses have had to say. If you ask his former caddie, Steve Williams, he’d tell you that even the slightest hitch resulted in lingering frustration for the best golfer of his time. And the wrath of it? Few have known it better than a young Lucas Parsons.

It was 1993. Norman had about 12 professional wins in his decade-long career, topped the world thrice, and was ready to host the inaugural Greg Norman Holden International. It was the place to be for Parsons, who had not only grown up idolizing the Shark but also had his Victorian Open title from weeks earlier to boost his presence. To make it sweeter, Norman even walked up to Parson to applaud the win and ask if he’d like to play with him and Ray Floyd on Thursday. But as fates would have it, it was an especially testy day at the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney.

The weather wasn’t right, the winds were dense, and in the days leading up to the event, thousands of Norman’s golf balls had been stolen (it was a prank), leaving him grumpy. The golfing icon was already tense before Parson’s play had him screaming: “I can’t believe I let you play with us. You effing little p***k.” Those were some tough words to swallow for the young golfer.

“I just crumbled in a way,” he shared on Talk Birdie to Me podcast. “I just crumbled a bit to where I said, ‘Well, sorry. I didn’t see it.’ He said, ‘That’s not an excuse, man. I can’t believe we asked you to play with us.’ I just kind of crumbled a bit emotionally, and I shot 46 in the front nine. I was pretty gutted at the end of the day.” So what happened?

Parsons had gotten off to a great start. On the 12th hole, he had outdriven Norman by about 50 meters. But then came the 18th, and things got messy. Parsons hit an approach shot that landed in the bunker 27 yards away from the cup. After hitting his wedge, his ball hit the pin and rolled back 35 feet off the cup. Norman made a similar play, landing in the bunker. He was off by 40.

What happened next is when the golfing icon lost his cool. His putt nearly dropped into the hole, only missing it by a whisker. As he walked close to the cup, he saw that Parsons’ hard-hit wedge had made skidmarks on the green that may have caused a diversion. It got the said reaction out of Norman.

Parson had walked in as the Australian Amateur and the New Zealand Amateur Champion, high on his confidence. But Norman’s energy just sucked it out.

The then-world No.1 was and is a golfer prideful of his work; enough to say, “I am in awe of myself,” after a near-perfect win at 1993 Royal St George’s. Also enough to challenge Rory McIlroy years later, to win more than 91 tournaments globally or to maintain No.1 in the world for more than 331 weeks after he had broken Norman’s 20 PGA Tour wins record. And let’s not forget the on-court battles with Sir Nick Faldo that lasted for years.

For Parsons, though, it was a new view. What was supposedly a dream was quick to turn into a nightmare. But he did not sit back. After talking it out with his father, Parsons turned the tables on his golfing idol, using intimidation himself. And by the end of the day, they were shaking hands. The former LIV Golf CEO would say, “You learned a lot today. Great to play with you.” Well, indeed.

The young golfer returned seven years later to win the 2000 Greg Norman Holden International. In between, he won four titles on the PGA of Australia. Other than that, he had a couple of major appearances in the U.S. Open (T40) in 1996 and The Open (T41) in 2000.