Alexi Lalas ain't hoppin' on the Tiger Woods comeback bandwagon just yet ... 'cause the U.S. soccer legend says we'll NEVER see Tiger return to his old dominant form.
TMZ Sports spoke with Lalas about Woods' impressive outing in his first tournament in almost a year ... and despite being only 3 strokes back from the lead after one round at the Hero World Challenge, Lalas wants to bring everyone back to Earth.
"He'll be a different type of Tiger Woods. And he'll have moments of brilliance that'll remind us of what he was, but I think his back injury ... that's difficult to come back for anybody."
Regardless, Lalas says it'll be great to see Tiger back on the links ... because it'll remind everyone of the good ole' days when he was the best golfer on the planet.