Tiger Woods is on pace to be in perfect shape before his much awaited return to competition in December as reports indicated that the gold superstar is already hitting shots on the range.

USA Today reported that Woods, who has been struggling with nagging back injuries, is hitting golf balls again two months after announcing that he would take a long break to rest his ailing back.

Woods' agent Mark Steinberg confirmed in an interview on Monday that Woods will return to play at the Hero World Challenge on Dec. 4-7 in Orlando, but the former world's top player is still getting frequent advice from his doctors.

"The doctors said he could hit golf balls again, and he's listening to his doctors and to his body," Steinberg said. "He will keep listening to his doctors and body."

Woods underwent back surgery on March 31 and returned to competition in June. However, the 38-year-old golfer hurt his back again, which forced him to withdraw during the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods also missed the cut at the 2014 PGA Championship as he was clearly bothered by his ailing back, which also made him decide to put his name out of consideration for the U.S. Ryder Cup squad.

Several analysts said that Woods should have taken longer rest instead of forcing himself to compete before the PGA Championship, but the Cypress, California native expressed no regret about his decision.

"I felt good enough to do it, and the only unfortunate part is I couldn't maintain the conditioning," Woods said via ESPN. "So as the tournament would wear on, I would get more and more fatigued and tired, and I wasn't as explosive, I wasn't as strong. Eventually the game started to deteriorate a little bit because physically I wasn't in good enough shape to maintain it."

The 14-time major champion started the year on top of the world rankings, but has dropped to 17th due to his inactivity and poor performances over the past several months.

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