Norman In Sydney In Support Of NSW Golf & OneAsia Tour

SYDNEY, Australia - AAP - He is unable to pick up a golf club following shoulder surgery, but Greg Norman still turned plenty of heads as he stalked the grounds of the NSW Golf Club on Saturday.

Norman, who was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open following shoulder surgery, was on hand at NSW Golf Club to provide commentary and conduct a junior clinic.

Earlier this year 54-year-old Norman signed on to play the next three Australian Opens, but then had to pull out of the 2009 edition after a slower-than-expected recovery from surgery.

The Shark is also an ambassador for Sydney and headed out to La Perouse to do some television commentary and a clinic with children in front of a large crowd at the practice range.

He was pleased to see Stuart Appleby and Adam Scott emerge from their recent troubles to be the leading contenders after two rounds of the Open, saying it was important they returned to their best to give the sport a lift in Australia.

The Shark has been partly credited for Scott's form after making him one of his captain's picks for this year's Presidents Cup.

"I believed in him," Norman said. "He just needed to believe in himself and just get refocused a little bit."

Norman also commented that the OneAsia Tour, which is co-sanctioning this week's event, offered a tremendous opportunity to develop golf throughout Asia.

"Asia is coming back. It's going to start to put together a pretty good format of tournaments.

"I think it's a tremendous opportunity," Norman told a press conference. "You can see where OneAsia is happening in this part of the world, it's so logical and it's starting to develop right now and I think it's great."

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