Australian golfing legend Greg Norman, 59, nearly lost his left hand in a chainsaw accident while cutting branches in his backyard.

The Associated Press reports that he was in his South Florida home when the weight of one of the branches pulled his hand toward the blade. He said that it hit his left hand in about the same place where one would wear a wristwatch.

"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."

The doctors told Norman that the blade was a fraction of an inch from an artery but did not hit.

Earlier last week Norman posted another picture of himself holding the chainsaw with a caption reading: "Time to trim the sea grapes today. Never ask someone to do something that you can do yourself. Love to work!"

Saturday night he posted a picture a picture to instagram of himself in the hospital bed with his heavily bandaged hand with a caption reading: "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."

By Sunday morning there were over 200 comments on the picture.

Despite his injury, he has kept his sense of humor. The Guardian reports that Norman told a reporter in a telephone interview that he could still play tennis.

Norman goes by the nickname The (Great White) Shark because of his blond hair and aggressive playing style. The BBC reports that he has led the world in rankings for a total of 331 weeks in the 1980s and 1990s and has had major wins at Turnberry and Royal St George's, he finished runner-up in two U.S. Opens, a pair of U.S. PGAs and three Masters.