Woods rises in world ranking despite dismal Augusta return

Tiger Woods posted the two worst rounds of his career at the Masters at the weekend, but just making the cut vaulted the 15-time Major winner 228 spots in the official world golf ranking.

Woods, who had not played a competitive round since the delayed Masters of November 2020, entered last week ranked 973rd. He moved to 745th after his 47th-place showing at Augusta National.

That is a far cry from the 679 weeks he had spent at No 1, but the 46-year-old’s ability to ever compete again had been in question since nearly losing his leg in a car accident 14 months ago.

Woods is unlikely to resume anything close to a full PGA Tour schedule in the future, but did say after Sunday’s round that he intends to play in The Open Championship at St Andrews in July.

Scottie Scheffler increased his grip on the top spot with his victory. Anointed as the new No 1 just last week, Scheffler now has a 180.17-point lead over Collin Morikawa, who moved backed to No 2 in the world with his solo fifth at the Masters.

Jon Rahm slipped a spot for the second consecutive week and is No 3 after a T27 at the Masters. Viktor Hovland is No 4, followed by Cameron Smith, who moved to a career-best No 5 despite a disappointing 73 on Sunday that left him in a tie for third.

Rory McIlroy tied the Sunday scoring record at the Masters with a 64 and his runner-up finish pushed him up two spots to No 7, just behind Patrick Cantlay.

Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Sam Burns round out the top 10. Burns missed the cut by a single shot but entered the top 10 for the first time by slipping by Xander Schauffele, who also failed to make the weekend.

Joaquin Niemann achieved a new career best by moving up five spots to No 15. The young Chilean started hot with a 69 at Augusta while playing with Woods on Thursday before cooling off over the weekend and settling for a T35.

Louis Oosthuizen remains the best-placed South African at No 14 despite withdrawing from the Masters. After tying for 10th at the weekend Charl Schwartzel jumped 38 places but  still only to No 131.

Ahead of him are Shaun Norris (61), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (62), Erik van Rooyen (65), Dean Burmester (66), Garrick Higgo (87), Daniel van Tonder (93), Branden Grace (103), Justin Harding (104), Dylan Fritelli (110) and Olivier Bekker (115).

Phil Mickelson, who opted not to play the Masters while taking a break from competitive golf, held steady at No 51 — just outside the coveted top-50 to qualify for all of the Major worldwide events.

Rickie Fowler slipped four spots to No 138 after failing to qualify for the Masters for the second consecutive year. It is the lowest Fowler has been ranked since finishing 2009 ranked 251st. With Hans Pienaar

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