Doctor gives Tiger Woods green light to step up rehabilitation, says agent

Tiger Woods has not played a competitive round since retiring after the first round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in February. Kamran Jebreili / AP Photo

Tiger Woods has been given the all clear to step up his rehabilitation from his latest back surgery with no restrictions, according to the former world No 1's agent.

Woods, 41, has not played a competitive round since retiring hurt from the Omega Dubai Desert Classic back in February. A third event after spending more than a year on the sidelines, caused by two back surgeries in 2015, had lasted one full round.

In April underwent a fourth back operation but has now been given the green light by his doctor to step up his recovery efforts.

Woods admitted last month it was possible he may never play competitive golf again, but on Sunday he tweeted a nine-second clip in which he hits a drive, captioned ''Making Progress''.

Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, said in quotes attributed to ESPN that the 14-time grand slam champion has been cleared to resume full golf activity, after last week having a check-up with the surgeon who performed back surgery on him six months ago.

Steinberg said: "He got a nice report and is allowed to proceed.

"He can do as much as he needs to do. Tiger is going to take this very, very slowly. This is good, but he plans to do it the right way."

Steinberg refused to estimate when Woods might be able to make a competitive return, however, saying: "We have not even talked about it. We will see what each day brings, what each week brings."

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• Comment: Tiger Woods on the road to recovery again or is he just teasing us to remain relevant?
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