Greg Norman’s Instagram post, complete with a left-handed thumbs up (Picture: Greg Norman/Instagram)

Australian golfing champion Greg Norman almost lost his left hand in a chainsaw accident on his property in Florida.

The 59-year-old is recovering in a US hospital, where surgeons successfully saved his hand from serious injuries sustained in the accident.

The golfer, ranked world No.1 in the Eighties and Nineties and nicknamed Great White Shark because of his white-blond hair and killer instinct on the golf course, posted a picture on Instagram from his hospital bed.

The caption read: ‘Working with a chainsaw ALWAYS be respectful of the unexpected. I was a lucky man today/ Damaged, but not down and out. Still have a left hand.’




Ironically, the caption was accompanied with what looked like a severed left hand with its thumb up.

Posted a week before the accident, Norman is seen posing with a chainsaw (Picture: Greg Norman/Instagram)

The week before, Norman had posted another Instagram picture of him posing on his Florida property with a chainsaw, the caption for that picture reading: ‘Time to trim the sea grapes today. Never ask someone to do something that you can do yourself. Love to work!’

While a good deal of physiotherapy is now on the cards for the veteran sportsman, it remains unclear how the injury will affect Norman’s golfing, or whether he will have partial or full use of the injured hand.