Over 60 minutes, two large bags of golf balls were emptied.
The launcher of said golf balls began his work in isolation on Tuesday; before he was through hitting 30 of the pellets, double that many people were looking on.Yes, Tiger Woods is back.
This time, however, the comeback looks different, feels different, sounds different.
While returns to competitive golf for Woods have become unfortunately an all too familiar affair – twice this season and five times in the last five years – there is no sense of sameness this time around at the Hero World Challenge that benefits his foundation and begins Thursday.
When last we saw the former world No. 1, he was gingerly exiting Valhalla Golf Club after missing the cut in the PGA Championship, the last of eight starts in 2014 and the fifth time he didn't finish 72 holes.
He had returned too soon following back surgery March 31 and the back remained his biggest foe until he put away the clubs in August.
Starting Monday, however, when he played 18 holes at Isleworth, there have been no winces from Woods, no double overs, no shaky steps.
He said his back is healed and the tedious rehab process is over; now what remains are more strengthening exercises. Most of his power is back, most of his explosiveness is back, most of his strength is back.
"It's nice to wake up each and every day," Woods said. "I might have a little soreness here and there from training or doing stuff, but I just don't have things slipping out of place anymore."
Proof of his improved back can be found in how he is carrying himself, for there's a bit more hop in his step than we've seen this year. And you can see the difference in his swing, which is much more fluid and still very powerful.
When one has a bad back, freedom of movement is severely hindered. With a healed back, Woods now has freedom without pain and it shows in his swing. He's standing taller to the ball at address and his overall swing looks smooth.
"It looks like he's swinging at it pretty good. Looks a lot similar to the early 2000s to me," Steve Stricker said. "What I saw from Tiger from the side in the 10, 20 balls that I watched him, it looked a lot freer. Didn't look like he was getting in his way. Looked like the club was going through a lot freer. Looked like it was on a better path.
" … We all know what he's done in his career and what kind of amazing things he's done over the course of 20 years. So we know it's in there. I think if he starts swinging it better and starts feeling good about what he's doing again, it won't take long for him to be at the top of the game again."
Adding to Woods' overall new look is the new equipment in his bag – the latest line from Nike – the new swing consultant by his side, Chris Como, and the new body he is carrying around after losing about 10 pounds.
Woods said he and Como share the same vision about his swing, and with further reps – and no health setbacks – Woods is confident he'll get to where the two want the swing to go.
On Wednesday, Woods played in the pro-am, walking 18 holes, he joked, for the first time since the PGA Championship. He hit just a couple loose shots, made three birdies and went full-bore on two drives – on the 8th and 18th holes – and was not the worse for wear.
"Yeah, that is where I've been," Woods said when asked if the two swings were confirmation of his restored back. "That's the neat thing. I took that much time off right after the PGA and built up my body and made a few adjustments on my swing and hit some good shots today."
And by the looks and sounds of things, he'll hit a lot more good shots.
"I think that if he's 100% healthy I don't have any doubt that he'll get back to winning major championships and a lot of the golf tournaments," said Jordan Spieth, who won the Australian Open last week. "I look forward to really trying to be the one that's stopping him."
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