Tiger Woods Gets Clearance

Six months after fusion surgery on his lower back kept him from swinging a golf club until recently, Tiger Woods has been cleared to resume full golf activity with no restrictions.

Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, said Monday that the 14-time major champion met with the doctor who performed the surgery on April 19 for a check-up late last week.

“He got a nice report and is allowed to proceed,” Steinberg said. “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.”

Starting on Oct. 7, Woods has posted video of himself swinging a golf club three times. Previously he had been limited to 60-yard pitch shots, and he said three weeks ago at the Presidents Cup that he was restricted on the amount of twisting he could do.

But the videos show full shots, and Woods clearly felt good enough about his progress to post them. The driver is significant because it is the longest club that requires the most torque.

Steinberg said Woods has not reported any pain associated with golf swings, but he could not offer any ideas on a competitive return, including for the Hero World Challenge in December, where Woods returned after a long layoff a year ago.

“We have not even talked about it,” Steinberg said. “We will see what each day brings, what each week brings.”

Woods, 41, has not played since withdrawing from a February tournament in Dubai. It was just his third tournament start after more than a year away following his third back surgery in 2015. Woods has missed all of the major championships the past two years.