by Fatiha Betscher, Tiburon Country Club, Naples, Florida.

Franklin Templeton Shootout host Greg Norman expressed his shock at Tiger Woods poor short game during the course of last week’s Hero World Challenge.

Woods finished in a distant share of last place on the Isleworth course and in his first event in four months.

While the long game of the former World No. 1 ranked Woods was praiseworthy he horribly ‘fluffed’ a number of chip shots over the course of the four rounds.

“Quite honestly, I was really shocked at his short game, as bad as what it is considering what he has in his backyard,” said Norman.

The extent of Tiger Woods practice facilities at his Jupiter abode. (Photo – splash)

“I know when I took time off, the thing I spend most time on was my short game because I wanted that to be so sharp because I knew my new swing or my game wouldn’t be as sharp as what it should be.  So I always spent more time on my short game.  I was really surprised to see him hit some of the chunk shots that he did.  But anyway, I think he’ll figure that one out pretty quickly.”

But while Norman was disappointed with Woods short game he shared the view of most observers that other aspects of Woods game seemed in good shape.

“Tiger’s swing looked better, number one and I thought it looked freer,” said Norman.

“It’s going to be hard to go back for him and look at the old VCR tapes and say this is the way I want to swing because his body is totally different today than it was back then.  But I think he’s on the right path, I really do.  He needs to relieve a lot of pressure on some of his ailing joints.  And we’ve all been there.  We all have spoken to our coaches about how can I change my swing in such a small way to allow to take pressure off a certain joint or I will not feel so much pain the next morning after practicing or playing.

Greg Norman ‘shocked’ at Tiger Woods poor short game despite the extent of his backyard practice facilities.

So I think the motions that I saw were really good.  He’s going to take a while to get that freedom back into his game.  I think he will and he will become a better driver of the golf ball, no question.

“But then I can see a few of the old motions that he’s got in there.  The head drops still dramatically.  His practice swings are really good, but his main swing you can see a little bit of the old swing when he has to pull the trigger.”

Norman competed in today’s Franklin Templeton Shootout Pro-Am and over the next three days will become part of the CBS Golf broadcast team as a prelude to the double Major winner embarking next year on this latest chapter in his illustrious career.