Tiger Woods Is On The Brink Of An Unimaginable Career Low In 2026
A harsh reality may be coming for the golf world.
Tiger Woods recently turned 50 and has not played a competitive round of golf since The Open in July 2024. With his absence from the sport, his Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) has hit an all-time low, but believe it or not, his ranking could get even worse.
Currently, Woods is ranked 2,590th in the world, having closed out his 2024 season ranked 879th. Those numbers are hard to comprehend when talking about a 15-time major champion who is considered by many to be the best to ever do it.
Having a number next to your name is better than not having one, which could be the reality for the big cat in 2026.
After rupturing his Achilles in early 2025 and undergoing what was his seventh back surgery in 11 years later in the calendar, a return to competitive golf for Woods is a complete guessing game. While everyone in the golf world would love to see him tee it up in the Masters in April, that feels like a pipe dream at this point.
If Woods doesn't play in an OWGR-accredited event before the 2026 Open Championship in July, his points will run out, and he'll actually become unranked, according to a report from Today's Golfer. If he does become an unranked player, he'll be able to return to a ranking status whenever he does tee it up in an OWGR-accredited tournament.
Tiger Woods may soon be an unranked golfer. (Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
At this point in the proceedings, Woods, nor anyone else in the golf world, should be worked up about where he falls in the world rankings, but the reality of him being an unranked player in the very near future is a not-so-subtle reminder of both Father Time never slowing down and the brutal run with injuries he's endured over the years.
His best years are well behind him. We've known this for close to a decade at this point, but it's still quite the reminder that nothing lasts forever. The kid who won the 1997 Masters by 12 shots, who became the No. 1 player in the world that same year and is now half a century old and on the verge of being unranked altogether.
Woods is now eligible to compete on PGA Tour Champions as a 50-year-old, although he has not expressed any real interest in playing on the senior circuit.