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Hank Haney was once part of Tiger Woods' inner circle, so it's safe to assume that he knows a few things. Of course, he is also no longer part of Woods' inner circle, so we should also take everything he says with a grain of salt (just like we should take everything anyone says about Woods at this point with a grain of salt). 

But anyway, Haney went on his SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show this week and said what we were all thinking. 

"They're going to toy with everybody because it's just what they do, but he's playing at the Hero World Challenge," Haney said. "He's not going to wait until February to play again. He's chomping at the bit. If he can be out there playing and can play 18 holes, he can play 18 holes three, four, five days in a row, I can tell you he's going to be out there wanting to tee it up. 

"… He's in great shape, he's in great golf shape, whatever that means. It's just a question of whether or not he has any setbacks with his back, and obviously so far that hasn't occurred because if it had occurred he would shut it down immediately and he's still going."

Haney also recently noted on Twitter that Woods' driver swing was a swing "he could win with."

I don't think Haney is wrong about the Hero World Challenge (I do think he's wrong about the winning swing) because I don't think Woods would drop four videos of himself swinging clubs in as many weeks if he wasn't at least feeling pretty great. Does that mean any of this is going to go well? No, and it feels like it's the same song and dance every November and December for the last five years. 

Maybe this time is different, you say. Yeah, maybe. But I'll believe it when I see it.