I saw in one of Goob's scans the Surfer mentioning the implicate order. In the implicate order, everything is connected with everything else; it's all quantum potential. If the Surfer can see via the implicate order, then he has access -- instant access -- to not only whatever is going on in time and space, but also whatever could be going on. The Surfer "sees" not only what is, but also what could be.
Zoom apparently operates in the explicate order (the manifest world), regardless of whose time he's in, what he's doing with time, etc, because time is an explicate phenomenon. The Surfer, on the other hand, has access to what gives rise to time, to all possibilities before they collapse into a single explicate event.
Theoretically, it should be impossible to surprise-attack Norrin nor out-fight him tactically, but of course, in comics he's caught off-guard quite a bit...otherwise there'd be no story (generally also why a Flash comic is not 1 page long, given what he can do with speed). But iirc, in forum fights, we're not hampered by storytelling constraints.
The Surfer would definitely need to call upon the more exotic of his cosmic capabilities to win the majority.
