The performance of the first Natural Golfer, Moe Norman, was testament to the validity of the Natural Golf swing and method.

By dictionary definition, Moe Norman was a phenomenon. He was unique, independent, proud and a very nice man -- humbly aware of his special gift and not given to flaunting it, yet justifiably proud to put it on precise and repeatable display.

"At 19, I had my move down. It felt so good. I thought, 'Keep this and make it stronger.' "

Moe began adding lead tape to his clubheads and building up the grip size after a local carpenter explained to him why he used a heavy hammer. Moe's swing was perfected on a driving range in his native Canada. He would spend hours hitting balls, swinging the club until his hands bled. The next day Moe would wrap his hands in Band-Aids and go back to the driving range, hitting another 600 balls.

"Every time I teed up, I wanted to shoot another course record. I shot 41 of them in my life. I gave myself a chance. I was the happiest winner in Canada. I got along with myself real well."

One day in the 1950s, Moe and Ben Hogan were on the practice tee together at a pro tournament when a spectator asked Hogan to take a look at Moe. Hogan believed any ball hit dead straight was an accident. After each of the first six balls he watched Moe hit, Hogan said, "Accident." After watching Moe hit several more, Hogan said, "Just keep hitting those accidents, kid."

"What's the longest walk in golf? It's from the practice tee to the first tee. I don't care if it's 10 yards. It's the longest walk in golf. Winners take their swing with them. Losers don't." –– Moe Norman

Sam Snead and Lee Trevino have openly said Moe was the best striker of a golf ball in the game. Ken Venturi coined the nickname "Pipeline Moe" in describing Moe's infallible accuracy. He said, "Because Moe is kind of eccentric, he never got the credit he deserved or played the kind of golf he was capable of. . . But he could do anything. Hell, I'd give Moe three strokes a side just to watch him hit the ball.

"Every time I hit a shot, I feel like I am shaking hands with the flag stick." – Moe Norman

Moe once played an exhibition match with Sam Snead in Toronto in 1969. On a par-4, a creek crossed the fairway about 240 yards from the tee. Snead warned Moe that he couldn't clear the creek with a driver. "Not trying to," Moe said. "I'm playing for the bridge." Snead's shot landed safely on the near side of the creek. Norman's drive landed short, and rolled over the bridge to the other side.

"It's not what the world gives you, but what you can give it. I'm lucky. I can give the world talent. I can explain it and show it to people. That's what I love doing. I just love it. " – Moe Norman

At one exhibition, Moe hit 1,540 drives in just under seven hours. All went longer than 225 yards, all landed inside a marked 30-yard-wide landing zone.

Lee Trevino said of Moe, "I don't know of any player, ever, who could strike a golf ball like Moe Norman, as far as hitting it solid, knowing where it is going and knowing what he wants to do with the ball. Moe Norman is a genius when it comes to playing the game of golf."

In the late 1950s Moe won dozens of amateur tournaments in Canada, including the Canadian Amateur two years in a row. After 1979, Moe won seven straight Canadian PGA senior championships, tied for fifth in the eighth, and won the ninth.

Moe has set more than 30 course records, including three shooting 59 and four shooting 61. The Royal Canadian Golf Association inducted him into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995 and he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

Moe Norman passed away on the morning of September 4, 2004 at the age of 75.

click here for for the complete 1995 Golf Digest featured Article on Moe Norman