Story highlights

Tiger Woods steps up rehabilitation from back injury

Former No. 1 has been out since February 2017

CNN  — 

Tiger Woods has suffered a number of setbacks getting his career back on track but the latest medical update on the golfer offers a more optimistic assessment of his recovery from his most recent bout of back surgery.

According to the American’s agent Mark Steinberg, doctors have cleared him to “do as much as he needs to do.”

“He got a nice report and is allowed to proceed,” Steinberg told ESPN. “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 did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

The 14-time major champion hasn’t played a competitive tournament since his withdrawal from the Dubai Desert Classic eight months ago, and has undergone four back operations in the past three years.

Woods hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and told CNN Sport in February he feared he’ll “never feel great again.”

But on October 15, the 41-year-old posted a video of himself on Twitter hitting a promising drive with the words “making progress.”

Woods’ former coach Hank Haney went as far as to tweet: “That’s a swing he could win with, it’s not across the line and stuck inside coming down, a little stiff looking but it’s good enough.”

READ: Tiger Woods admits he’ll ‘never feel great again’

WATCH: The latest episode of CNN Living Golf

Nerve pain

tiger woods injuries timeline

Woods has previously only been able to hit 60-yard pitch shots and, as recently as May 2017, couldn’t even twist, let alone strike the ball at his full capacity.

“I could no longer live with the pain I had,” Woods wrote on his blog. “Even lying down hurt. I had nerve pain with anything I did and was at the end of my rope.”

- Source: CNN " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/170228173132-tiger-tease-new.jpg?q=x_0,y_1412,h_1620,w_2880,c_crop/h_540,w_960" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/170228173132-tiger-tease-new.jpg?q=x_0,y_1412,h_1620,w_2880,c_crop/h_540,w_960" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="
" data-timestamp-html="
Published 5:53 AM EDT, Tue October 17, 2017
" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2017-03-02T13:56:02Z" data-video-section="sport" data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/sports/2017/03/02/tiger-woods-exclusive-interview-injuries-comeback-course-design-future-living-golf-spc.cnn" data-branding-key="golf" data-video-slug="tiger woods exclusive interview injuries comeback course design future living golf spc" data-first-publish-slug="tiger woods exclusive interview injuries comeback course design future living golf spc" data-video-tags="health and medical,diseases and disorders,musculoskeletal disorders and injuries,back disorders and injuries,knee disorders and injuries,wounds and injuries,sports injuries,sports and recreation,golf,destinations and attractions,golf courses,sports figures,tiger woods,sports organizations and teams,pga tour,living golf" data-details="">
Tiger tease new
Tiger Woods exclusive: injuries and the future
04:53 - Source: CNN

Visit CNN.com/golf for more news and features

Now though, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.