Tiger Woods falls to record low on OWGR

The 15-time major champion has dropped to a career-low position in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), and is expected to drop further due to his prolonged absence from competition.

The American underwent surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon last month, and his continued absence from competition has seen him drop to 1,341st in the world, the lowest of his entire career.

Woods’ previous record low was 1,328th in November 2023, according to OWGR experts.

Woods has not played in an OWGR-scoring event since last year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, where he missed the cut for the third time in a row in majors.

Woods last earned world ranking points at the 2024 Masters, when he made a record 24 consecutive cuts at Augusta National.

The 49-year-old’s latest surgery is expected to keep him out of the tournament for the entire 2025 season, meaning his ranking could drop even further in the coming months.

Woods’s possible return to competition could be the PNC Championship in December with his son Charlie, the Genesis Invitational in February (an event he is an organizer for at Riviera, Los Angeles) or The Masters in April, barring further injuries.

When Woods is able to return to competition, he will turn 50 and be eligible to compete on the Senior Tour. Legendary Jack Nicklaus recently predicted that Woods will “dominate” the tournament system.

Nicklaus said at the Masters:

“I think Tiger will recover and he will be back playing. Tiger will be 50 next year. I think he will be playing on the Senior Tour and I think he will dominate there.
Tiger is too competitive to quit. I don’t think he will stop playing.
I don’t think Tiger plays for the money. He doesn’t need the money. Tiger will play for the competitive spirit. He loves to compete and he’s obviously very good at it.
Tiger has had a lot of problems, but he has overcome them each time. I absolutely believe this will be the same.”

Woods has held the world No. 1 ranking for a record 683 weeks, 352 more than second-place Greg Norman. Scottie Scheffler is currently in third place with 137 weeks at No. 1.