Greg Norman on Tiger Woods' return and golf's rising stars

Greg Norman was impressed by Tiger Woods’ latest competitive return to action but warns against setting too high expectations for the 14-time major champion’s future.

Woods finished tied-ninth at the Hero World Challenge earlier this month, his first worldwide appearance since February, with the 41-year-old showing no symptoms of the back injury that has hampered his game in recent years.

The former world No 1's encouraging performance increased speculation on what Woods can still achieve on the PGA Tour, while his former coach Butch Harmon suggested he could still contend in future majors.

"I think his comeback was really, really good," Norman told Golf Channel on Sunday. "I think from my perspective he has to manage his expectations, because he'll go from playing in an 18-man field to a 156-man field.

"I thought his swing looked really good to tell you the truth. There was a little difference between his driving swing and some of his iron swings, but I'm sure he's going to be working on that.

"It's good to see him back and [on winning again] you never know. I remember when I first was hanging around and Jack Nicklaus won the Masters [in 1986]. If you look at history you'll see that there has always been about a 15-17 year cycle from one group to the next."

Norman was speaking at the QBE Shootout, where the Australian was hosting the 12-team, unofficial PGA Tour tournament in Naples, Florida.

Chronicles of a Champion Golfer

The 62-year-old played alongside the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Sir Nick Faldo during the peak of his career, with Norman excited by the current crop at the top of the world rankings.

"There's now probably around eight to 12 young kids out there and each one of them could hold the baton of being world No 1 with no problems," Norman added.

"Golf is healthy and strong and what I love about it is that it relates to the time between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s, when we had a plethora of great players.

"Every one of us would be playing the same events and pushing each other, and now we are seeing the same thing."