Tiger Woods has taken the lead at Hero World Challenge. You can start to freak out now.

With each and every Tiger Woods comeback, you try to maintain a little perspective. There’s guarded optimism. You’re happy to have him back but it’s always useful to be cautious given everything we’ve seen with so many of these failed comebacks. But I am granting you permission to freak out and lose that perspective based on what we’ve seen Friday at the Hero World Challenge.

Tiger has taken the lead at his little 18-man event at the Albany course in the Bahamas. He looks ... perfect. It’s been an absolute show in every phase of the game and resulted in three birdies in his first four holes. The run put him in a share of the lead with Tommy Fleetwood before the Englishman could even get off the practice green.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about this comeback so far, and what differentiates it from last year’s run at this event, is the way Tiger is nuking the ball off the tee. He’s absolutely crushing it way out past 300 yards and keeping it in the fairway, a notorious problem for Tiger throughout the second half of his career. His ball speed on one early drive topped at 180 mph, which would be among the best on the PGA Tour, and is a mark he’s simply not hit in prior comebacks. His fused back seems to have resulted in a pain-free swing that’s really working for him off the tee in a much different way from his previous returns from injury.

He’s hit every fairway and every green in regulation. The driver looks incredible. His irons are pure. And his putting is steady. He’s in the lead and, while we’re not even 27 holes into this comeback, the way he’s looked, separate and apart from the scores, you have permission to freak out and entertain the idea he’s back.

Update:

Tiger eagled the 9th hole to make the turn in sole possession of the lead at 8-under. The eagle was built largely on the back of this outrageous fairway wood from 271 yards.

Scores at this very very early point in the second round.