As Greg Norman approached his final putt in Wednesday's Par-3 Contest, the crowd begged Norman's caddie to take the shot.

Chris Evert laughs with her husband, Greg Norman, during the Par-3 Contest. Norman said she asked, "Is that what normally happens?" as they watched his shot on No. 6 become a hole-in-one. (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

Unfortunately for the pleading patrons, Chris Evert -- the tennis legend who married Norman last year -- had no desire to do more than carry his clubs.

"I haven't been that quick since '72," she said with a laugh of her escape from the green.

It is Evert's first visit to Augusta National Golf Club, the course her husband claims as his favorite despite a host of memorable failings when a green jacket barely eluded his grasp.

His return after a seven-year absence has been nothing but positive, capped by a hole-in-one on No. 6, which prompted his wife to jump into his arms for a kiss.

"It was a sweet moment," said Norman, who aced the hole with a 9-iron. "It looked like it was going to go in all the way, and Chrissie said, 'Is that what normally happens?' "

Evert arrived from Florida just in time to catch the first five holes of Norman's Wednesday practice round with Sergio Garcia, Robert Allenby and Camilo Villegas. Wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap adorned with Norman's shark logo, she followed the group through Amen Corner and got a glimpse of some of the most famous holes in golf.

"My first impression is that I don't see any sponsorship or signage. It's just pure. It's lush," Evert said while walking the 15th fairway with her sister, Jeanne, and Margaret Collins, the wife of Great White Shark Enterprises President Bart Collins. "It's just like Wimbledon, with the ivy on the buildings, and the people -- there's a sort of hush about the place, a reverence about the place.

"I've been to a few golf tournaments, but there aren't too many like this with the grounds and the trees. It's beautiful and very well-groomed and manicured. It's just what Greg said it would be."

Augusta National is to Norman what Wimbledon is to Evert, she said. That makes it even more meaningful that the two share this week's experiences.

Norman concedes he was unsure that he'd play another Masters; he secured a spot after a surprise third-place finish in last year's British Open.

"I'm just thrilled for him that he's playing it again," Evert said. "I don't think he thought he was ever going to play it again."

That doesn't mean she intends to enter another draw at Wimbledon to allow her husband to see her play at her favorite venue.

"You have to run. It would be tough," she said. "I've gotten a little bit out of running."