WINDEMERE, Fla.

Tiger Woods is too busy in the gym to find a new swing coach, or even swing a golf club.

Woods said Monday his strength has returned from “busting my butt in the gym pretty hard” and he is on schedule to resume competition in December. But he still hasn’t hit a golf ball since he missed the cut at the PGA Championship on Aug. 8, and still doesn’t know when he will.

“We’re pretty much past the strength phase now, and I’ve got my strength where I want to have it,” Woods said at Isleworth Golf & Country Club, where he lived for the first 15 years of his pro career. “Now I just need to get my fast twitch going and get my speed back, and that’s going to take a little bit of time. That’s part of our second phase of training. And that’s coming up now.”

Woods had his fifth surgery in 20 years — this time on his back — and failed to win a PGA Tour event for the third time in the last five years.

Rory McIlroy referred to Woods and Phil Mickelson has being on “the last few holes” of their careers when he was asked about the two best players of their generation not being eligible for the Tour Championship for the first time since 1992.

McIlroy simply was noting their ages (Woods turns 39 in December, Mickelson is 44) and their injuries. And when “the last few holes” became an Internet sensation and McIlroy was asked if he needed to explain his remarks to Woods, he replied with a laugh, “I’ve said worse to his face.”

Woods response?

“I thought it was funny,” he said. “Phil has less holes to play than I do, though. It’s a reality, you know? We’re all older. I’m nearing my 20th season on tour here coming up pretty soon. … It’s just part of the aging process.”

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