AUGUSTA, Ga. - Greg Norman, more than anyone, knows that major championships aren't won on Thursday.

More than anyone, the man who has finished second in a major eight times knows how much work he has ahead of him.

But perhaps more than anyone, Greg Norman wants to win the 60th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

''Those two guys have something I want,'' Norman said Wednesday night at a dinner where he was honored, looking at Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw and speaking about the green Masters jackets they've won. ''And I'm going to go get it.''

He took a dramatic step in that direction in the first round, shooting a 9-under-par 63, two strokes better than Phil Mickelson and four better than Bob Tway and Scott Hoch.

For all the times Norman's greatness had been denied in a major championship, especially at Augusta where he has finished in the top six seven times but never won, golf's greatest money winner was, for one day, golf's greatest player.

Norman's round, only the fourth 9-under-par round in the history of all the majors, was an overwhelming effort on a lightning-fast course.

It started normally enough with six consecutive pars. Then the awesome talent that has astounded, baffled, amazed and confused a generation of golf fans kicked in.

Closing with nine birdies in the last 12 holes, Norman tied the major championship record with his 63.

''When you get into that type of roll, like I got into today, you just decide to let the reins loose and let the horse run,'' Norman said.

Run they did. Birdie putts of 10 feet, 10 feet and 14 feet to close the front nine in 33. After pars on Nos. 10 and 11 - a bunker save on 10 that he almost holed - Norman birdied Nos. 12-15, making two-putt birdies on both the par 5s.

He tied the course record set in 1986 by Nick Price with a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and a 24-footer on the final hole to close the back nine in 30.

''This was one of my handful of great rounds,'' Norman said after posting only the 18th 63 in major championship history and the fourth on a par-72 course.

Norman, whose only major titles are two British Opens, on this day punished Augusta National Golf Club for every time it has caused him a Masters heartbreak.

It was a crushing performance that made a great round by Mickelson look almost ordinary. The 65 by the 25-year-old left-hander, looking for his first major championship, was posted as Norman was finishing the front nine.

It was a savvy round that showed how much he has learned about the course.

''The really difficult thing about this tournament, this golf course and these greens,'' Mickelson said, ''is we don't really see anything like it ever, except this one week of the year.''

As always on Augusta, position was the key.

''I had a lot of putts from underneath the hole on the back nine and was able to go at them,'' Mickelson said. ''I don't think I've ever seen it this fast.''