The Shark, Evert going their separate ways

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This article was published 03/10/2009 (6147 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

JUST 15 months after they were married, golf star Greg Norman and tennis great Chris Evert announced they have separated.

The announcement Friday comes three days before Norman is to captain the International team at the Presidents Cup in San Francisco, where wives of the captains take on a visible role.

Norman and Evert, each in the Hall of Fame in their respective sports, did not say whether they planned to divorce.

In a statement, the couple said only, “We will remain friends and supportive of one another’s family.” The statement said they requested privacy for them and their families.

Norman’s spokesman, Bart Collins, said the two-time British Open champion would not comment beyond the statement. Norman’s first press conference at the Presidents Cup is Tuesday morning at Harding Park.

They were married June 28, 2008, in The Bahamas. A month later, while still on their honeymoon, Norman was nine holes away from becoming golf’s oldest major champion at 53 when he led the British Open. He eventually tied for third at Royal Birkdale.

Norman was coming off an ugly divorce from Laura Andrassy, the mother of his two children, which ended in a settlement that paid her just over US$100 million. Evert was married twice previously, most recently to Olympic downhill skier Andy Mill, with whom she had three children. They were divorced in December 2006.

The timing of the announcement was in part to prevent speculation on Evert’s absence at the Presidents Cup, matches between the United States and an International team of countries from every continent but Europe.

Norman had arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder Wednesday and announced his field for the Shark Shootout on Friday.

— The Associated Press