Golf:Even if his leg is getting better, things are about to get a whole lot worse for Tiger Woods as far as his world ranking goes. With Woods not playing in Texas this week, the projection for next Monday's updated table is that he will fall out of the top 10.
It will be the first time since he has not been among the top 10 since winning the 1997 US Masters — his first major as a professional.
Pulling out of last week’s Players Championship after nine holes with knee and Achilles problems left the former number one at eighth in the standings, but England’s Paul Casey and Americans Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson are now set to move ahead of him.
Woods could even fall as low as 13th if US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel reaches the knockout stages — the last 16 — of the Volvo World Match Play in Spain and if Jim Furyk wins in Fort Worth.
Without a tournament win in 18 months, Woods’s points average will be down to 5.03 on Monday. After the last of his 14 major wins at the 2008 US Open it stood at 21.5, and the gap between him and second-placed Phil Mickelson was more than the difference between Mickelson and the player ranked 1,000th in the world.
