If it seems too soon, Tiger Woods' return to competitive golf is not really surprising.
The Twitter video posts in recent weeks, including driver and stinger swings, suggested that Woods, 41, was feeling good about himself and his recovery from the April back surgery.
His announcement this week that he would play the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas beginning on November 30 confirmed that optimism, offering a promising yet cautionary future.
Promising, because it wasn't that long ago Woods was acknowledging it was possible that his playing career could be done. Cautionary, because we've been down this road before with these comebacks, only to see more issues arise.
The difference this time? Expectations, or the lack thereof. Perhaps this time Woods will return without the unrealistic goals of past attempts.
NO EXPECTATIONS
"He honestly put no expectations on this surgery and what the future was going to hold," said Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent."So it's hard to compare it to anything. It was a completely different surgery than he had in the past. He honestly was putting no expectations on it. For him to say he's ready to play, I don't think he can compare it to anything else."
That is a question that cannot be answered with any certainty, even by Woods. The fusion surgery has taken care of the pain, he said, but it could very well hinder his mobility and flexibility. How well Woods is able to swing the golf club and just as important - how much he can practice - is still to be determined.
One of the huge impediments to that, according to Steinberg, is gone. "The pain he was experiencing, which was the nerve pain, was excruciating.
"So far, he hasn't expressed to any of us that there has been any pain whatsoever, let alone nerve pain. He had the surgery. He had it fused. And to date, he hasn't had any pain."And so that is what he's going to go by. He feels good and for him it just feels good to keep progressing each day. He's excited about taking this next step."
At last year's Hero World Challenge, Woods acknowledged that the pain he experienced from his disc issue was at times so severe that he had trouble getting out of bed.
WHAT TO EXPECT
To be blunt, not much. Not at the Hero and not for a period of time afterward. Woods led the field in birdies a year ago in the Bahamas. He also led in double-bogeys. It was a great return, but it suggested so much work was still to be done.
Then it was clear he was not the same when he played at Torrey Pines and Dubai this year. Despite saying otherwise, something was amiss. Whether it was nerve pain, back pain, lack of practice time due to both... Woods did not look the same as he did in the Bahamas...