Greg Norman home after swing with chainsaw ends in bad slice

“At least I can still play tennis,” Norman said in an interview.

Norman, the Hall of Fame golfer and entrepreneur, was cutting back trees in his south Florida home when the weight of a branch pulled his left hand towards the chainsaw.

He said the blade hit him just below where a person would be wearing a watch. He said doctors told him it missed his artery by a fraction of an inch.

“Thank God the blade wasn’t running full speed or it would have taken my hand off,” Norman said. “I handled everything as calmly as I could. There is no major damage. There is nerve damage, but no muscular damage. They fixed me up and here I am.”

He posted a photo on Instagram from hospital of his heavily bandaged left hand protected by a large piece of purple foam, posting: “Working with a chainsaw ALWAYS be respectful of the unexpected. I was one lucky man today. Damaged, but not down & out. Still have left hand.”

Norman woke up on Sunday to more than 200 comments on Instagram, and news stories from America to Australia. “I just didn’t expect when I posted that Instagram that it would explode like that,” Norman said.

Oddly, Norman had posted another Instagram a week earlier standing next to a tree and holding a chainsaw. “Time to trim the sea grapes today. Never ask someone to do something that you can do yourself. Love to work!”

Norman posted another Instagram on Sunday morning, standing in front of the tree without a shirt while giving a thumbs-up with his right hand and his left in the purple foam protective cover.

“Thank u all for your concern & good wishes. All well the morning after the accident. Here I am at the scene of the crime w/ my new fashion statement!”

He expects to soon swap the foam for a sling before starting rehab. “There’s a little tingling in my fingers, which is better than no fingers at all,” he said.