Tiger Woods’ World Ranking slide continues as he drops out of elite position

For the third week in a row Tiger Woods has dropped in the Official World Golf Ranking, and this time he’s fallen further than at any point since before his 2019 Masters victory.

Woods’ new ranking as of Monday morning after the Honda Classic is No. 11. It’s the first time he’s been outside the Top 10 in the OWGR since the week before his dramatic win at Augusta last April. He was passed by Tommy Fleetwood, whose near-win at the Honda moved him up from No. 12 to 10.

The last appearance Tiger made in competition was three weeks ago at the Genesis Invitational, where he also played tournament host at the event that supports his TGR Foundation. His performance on the difficult Riviera CC course — one that he’s had little success on in his career — left much to be desired. He narrowly made the cut to play the weekend at Riviera, then shot 76-77 to finish in last place at 11 over.

That poor finish dropped Woods to No. 9 in the rankings, and then he chose not to play the WGC-Mexico Championship (won by Patrick Reed) or the Honda Classic, which is contested relatively near to his home in Jupiter, Fla.

Three days ago, Woods’ agent confirmed that the 15-time major champion would also sit out this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, telling ESPN’s Bob Harig that his back is “still stiff and just not quite ready.” Not only is that detail worrisome for Tiger’s future prospects, it also means that his ranking slide will continue for at least another week.

Following last year’s Masters, Tiger moved to No. 6 in the world and reached as high as No. 5 in the World as recently as the Open Championship in July. He played poorly in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, failing to qualify for the Tour Championship, but then showed a flash of hope with a surprise victory at the Zozo Championship in October. He’s played only three events since then, finishing 4th at the Hero World Challenge in December, T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, and 68th at the Genesis.

If his body recovers in time, Woods is expected to tee it up next at the Players Championship, which begins 10 days from now on March 12 at TPC Sawgrass.

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