Rachel Hetherington, one of Australia's most successful golfers of the modern era, figures she is hitting the ball better now than she was when she decided to stop competing on the world's top women's tour four years ago.
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At 42, she is making a comeback, a low-key one (for now, at least) to the sport she once stood at the top of, or at least comfortably next to those at the top.
On Thursday, at 13th Beach Golf Club in Barwon Heads, she played the opening round of a professional tournament for the first time since 2010, the point when she decided that 14 years duelling with the world's best in the US was enough.
In that time, she won eight events on the LPGA Tour, including three where she upstaged Annika Sorenstam in playoffs when the Swedish champion ruled women's golf. All up she earned more than $5 million.
But Hetherington has no intention of returning to the big stage overseas.
Her young daughter Annie (the main reason for quitting the tour grind) and the business she runs with husband Greg Ritchie, the former Australian Test batsman, is more than enough to keep her close to home.
Still, she has a competitive edge, and even though this week's $250,000 Victorian Open is nothing like the British or US Open's she competed in during her prime, she still wants to win.
"I've got plenty of other things to do," Hetherington said after her first round on Thursday.
"So if I don't feel like I can be in contention at the tournaments I play, then I would just go do those other things – I would spend all day with my daughter. I'd be happy to do that. I'm still very competitive."
And so is her game. In fact, at this level, it could be a force.
By her own admission, her ball-striking was off yet she still managed to post an even par 73, and show enough to have the leader, Sally Watson at -5, and others looking over their shoulders before the weekend.
Hetherington's only goal this year is to finish as high as she can on the Australian LPG money list.
She will play in next week's Australian Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast and, if she can achieve a top 10 finish there and here, she will then qualify for the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne in two weeks' time.
That is an LPGA co-sanctioned event, yet there is nothing to suggest she is incapable of contending against many of the world's top-ranked players, just like before.
Hetherington, who spends a lot of time coaching young players, revealed on Thursday that her new coach, Randall Hollands-Smith, played a key role in her decision to make a comeback.
Not only because as a new instructor at Hetherington's Golf Range on the Tweed Coast, he will lighten the workload on her as a teacher, but also because of the improvements he has made to her game.
"In the interview process I had a lesson from him and I loved it," Hetherington said, in reference to Hollands-Smith.
"He has a wealth of experience and coaching. I started hitting the ball really well and that kind of inspired me to play."
Hetherington was more or less another face in the crowd on Thursday, as she quietly made her way around early in the morning on her return to professional golf.
But should she seal the deal on Sunday, or at the higher profile Masters and Open events, she would be thrust back in the spotlight.
But that won't change a thing. She is happy with the plan she has made and won't be hitting the road again.
"I think when I stopped playing the LPGA I was ready to stop. I wasn't enjoying the travel so I came back to Australia and had some other things to keep me busy," she said. "I did not miss it at all while I was away.
"I'm super happy just playing the Australian LPG series of events. It is great to be a part of it on the Australian LPG and assisting the promotion of women's golf in this country."
