For Tiger Woods, there's only one place to go so long as he remains on the sidelines: Down.
In the Official World Golf Ranking, that is, which came out Monday morning and had Woods at No. 70. That's his lowest ranking since he sat 75th in the fall of 1996, two months after turning professional. The difference is, in '96 the 21-year-old Woods had roared upward to 75th on the strength of his first PGA Tour win, in a playoff over Davis Love in Las Vegas.
This time, a 39-year-old Woods is free-falling -- for obvious reasons, of course.
Since being bumped from his 11th different run as No. 1 last May, Woods has played in just six PGA Tour events. Three missed cuts, two withdrawals, and a 69th (at the Open Championship) have contributed to the slide, coupled with back issues and inexplicable swing changes, of course.
Presently on a self-imposed "benching" to work on his game, Woods hasn't made any announcement regarding a return to action. The March 19-22 Arnold Palmer Invitational, on a Bay Hill course where Woods has won eight times, would seem to be a leading candidate. If not there, then the spotlight would turn to a possible re-entry at the Masters on April 9-12.
While Woods has taken the biggest drop in the world rankings from this date one year ago, he's had company. Steve Stricker, 13th at this time a year ago, is now 63rd; Luke Donald has fallen from 24th to 48th; and Jason Dufner dropped from 17th to 47th.
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