Expect to be impressed when Tiger Woods makes his latest return to golf, advise tour stars who have played with him recently.
"People are going to be shocked at how good his game looks," said PGA Tour player of the year Justin Thomas.
Thomas will have the best seat in the house on Thursday when 41-year-old Woods, who had fusion surgery on his lower back in April, plays for the first time in 10 months at the 18-man Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Thomas, who is paired with Woods in the first round, spends a fair bit of time with the 14-times major champion at their Florida homes, and they played a few weeks ago.
Former tour veteran Brad Faxon caused a stir when he played with Woods, world No.1 Dustin Johnson and President Donald Trump on Friday.
"Tiger looked great to me," Faxon wrote in a story for Golfweek . "I was impressed with how far he hit the ball.
"Probably on the 10 holes that they were both hitting driver, Tiger hit it past Dustin half the time and Dustin hit it past Tiger half the time.
"I think more than anything, he looked at ease.
"He was not concerned about swinging hard and going at it with driver. The ball flight, the sound off the club, all of it was right there."
The long-hitting Johnson confirmed it.
"He hit it by me a couple of times," Johnson said. "Did I bomb one and he hit it past me? No. But he did it past me a few times. He was moving it, though."
Johnson said Friday's round with Woods and the president was a big change from when the two played the opening two rounds at Torrey Pines together in January, when both missed the cut.
"His speed was back. He played a lot better than he did in San Diego, for sure," Johnson said. "He's healthy. To me, he looks strong. He's swinging with speed."
All this hype should sound familiar.
It was only last year when Woods returned after 15 months away from the game. He had gone through three back surgeries at that point, the first one right before the 2014 Masters, and Woods looked relatively normal, with freedom in his swing.
He made 24 birdies, along with enough mistakes that he finished 14 shots out of the lead, in 15th place among an 18-man field.
Woods missed the cut at Torrey Pines two months later, flew to Dubai and managed one round - a 77 in calm conditions - before withdrawing with back spasms.
What appears to be different this time, at least from those who have played with him, is the absence of pain.
Patrick Reed played nine holes of practice with him Monday morning. He saw Woods do whatever he wanted with his swing and saw an assortment of shots - a stinger off the tee, a low draw, a high cut.
"He seemed to have command of not only the golf club, but his body," Reed said.
It was the first time Reed had played with Woods since the opening round of the Hero World Challenge last year. The difference Reed noticed was that Woods looked more free and fluid in going after any shot.
"It looked like there was a little hesitation the last time I played with him," Reed said.
"This time, he was fully committed and fully trusted in his body. There was no pain. That's the biggest thing for me. If he stays healthy, then he'll be back playing golf, hopefully like he used to. I want to see it and I want to compete against it."
