Tiger out of golf top 10, but No. 1 sports celeb
Tiger Woods is about to fall out of the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in 14 years.
Woods, whose last win came 18 months ago at the Australian Masters, will drop to at least No. 11 in the next world ranking published on Monday. It will be the first time he is out of the top 10 since he was No. 13 on April 6, 1997, the week before he won the Masters for the first of his 14 majors.
CBSSports.com: Tiger Woods player profile
Forbes, meanwhile, says he's still the No. 1 celebrity in U.S. sports.
Woods checks in at No. 6 on Forbes' annual "Celebrity 100" list of the most powerful people or groups in the entertainment business. Lady Gaga tops the overall rankings, followed by Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, U2 and Elton John.
Miami Heat star LeBron James is the second-ranked athlete behind Woods at No. 10. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is No. 14.
Forbes estimated Woods' total earnings last year to be $75 million, making him the highest-paid athlete. The magazine put Bryant's earnings for the last 12 months at $53 million, followed by James at $48 million and four-time major winner Phil Mickelson at $47 million.
Woods won't be able to improve on his golf ranking anytime soon.
He started the year at No. 2 and has been steadily dropping points. Woods, who tied for fourth at the Masters last month, withdrew from The Players Championship last week because of injuries to his left knee and left Achilles. He said on his website on Monday that he will try to return for the U.S. Open from June 16-19.
"I'll do whatever is necessary to play in the U.S. Open, and I'm hopeful I can be there to compete," he said.
Many had long assumed the inevitability of Woods breaking the career majors mark. But after witnessing the wounded icon's pain at TPC, CBSSports.com's Steve Elling says now it probably won't happen. "For the first time, after 20 months on the fence as Woods' cataclysmic career trajectory and personal life have morphed into the stuff of morbid curiosity, it's at last become clear that he's too beaten down, too beaten up and just plain too easy to beat," Elling writes. "By any definition of the word, Woods has pulled up, lame. Fate has wrecked what we once considered a fait accompli."Steve Elling: Woods' majors mission now improbable
Woods has been atop the world ranking for 623 weeks in his career, by far the longest of any golfer since the ranking began in 1986. He had been No. 1 from June 2005 until Lee Westwood of England supplanted him last November.
Fight resumes for golf No. 1 at World Match Play
Since revelations of adultery emerged in November 2009, Woods has seriously contended in only one tournament — he lost in a playoff at Chevron World Challenge in December after losing a four-shot lead in the final round. He has been in the top five in only four other tournaments.