Coming in at No. 12, Woods falls out of the world top 10 for the first time since the week of April 6, 1997, the week before he won that fateful Masters. Back then, Woods was ranked 13th, and the guys at the top of the list were Greg Norman, Tom Lehman, Colin Montgomerie, Mark O'Meara and Ernie Els. Phil Mickelson was ninth, just for reference.
So, there you go. And Woods is likely to fall further because of the rankings' formula, which tracks players over a two-year period. (Spoiler: Woods' last two years have been remarkably Woods-victory-free.)
But let's discuss the element of the rankings that has a little more dramatic impact on players' lives: the top 50 cutoff for the U.S. Open. Players within the top 50 as of this past weekend got an exemption into the U.S. Open. The winner this week? Ryo Ishikawa, with�fine play at the Totoumi Hamamatsu Open on the Japan Tour. Ryo lost in a playoff, but his performance was good enough to jump him from 53rd to 49th in the rankings.
On the other side of matters, Gary Woodland and Aaron Baddeley dropped out of the top 50. For Baddeley, it's no big deal, as he's in the top 10 on the PGA Tour money list and thus exempt, but Woodland needs to play his way back into the top 50 in order to get his invite. There's one more chance: anybody in the top 50 as of June 13 gets in. So, you know, it might be time to bust out those sticks and start playing.
Padma Lakshmi Sarah Mutch Gabrielle Union Alessandra Ambrosio Amanda Detmer
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