Tiger Woods was in contention to make a rare appearance on the golf course in the near future, but it was recently confirmed that he will not play in the Masters.
Woods has taken some time off from golf to prioritize his mental and physical health following his car accident.
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This is a very smart move by the 15-time major champion and 82-time PGA Tour winner, who only returned to golf last month.
The 50-year-old competed in the TGL final, his first appearance in any form of competitive golf since the summer of 2024.
Then came the British Open Championship, where Woods plummeted down the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) after being out for so long.
Tiger Woods ranks last in OWGR at 4169th place
The weekly OWGR currently ranks American legend Woods as the 4169th best player in the world.
Although he is still a long way from reaching his career high of No. 1 in the world, his decline is no surprise.
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And it matters little to veterans who need to focus on regaining full health.
There remains hope that the legend will be able to return to PGA Tour action, but such a return seems a long way off at this point.
He missed the cut at his most recent British Open, followed by the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open.
Elsewhere in the 2024 season, he finished 60th at the Masters after withdrawing during the Genesis Invitational.
Photo by James Gilbert/TGL/TGL Golf, Getty Images
Masters suffers from double whammy of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson
Woods’ absence is a big blow to the Masters, and even though he hasn’t played golf in recent years, the iconic figure can certainly still attract large crowds.
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Unfortunately for everyone involved at Augusta National, he’s not the only high-profile player to miss out.
Phil Mickelson, who admittedly doesn’t always see eye to eye with his fellow American Woods, has admitted that he will miss major tournaments due to family reasons.
The two have eight Masters wins and 21 total major wins.
By the way, Mickelson, who currently plays at LIV Golf, is 1,368th in the OWGR, a career-high 2nd place, and is probably the best golfer to ever never reach world No. 1.
Fortunately, Augusta National fans can still look forward to a world-class event featuring current world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and defending champion and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy.
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Other notable names include World No. 1418 Vijay Singh and World No. 4935 Fred Couples, both of whom reached number one in their prime.
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