13 February 2023 , 16:18
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Tiger Woods will have the chance to rocket up the world rankings this week when he returns to the PGA Tour to play the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
The 15-time major champion returned to the sport last year after suffering multiple injuries in a high speed car crash. More than 14 months after the incident in February 2021, he admirably made the cut at the Masters, before also participating at the US PGA and 150th Open Championship in St Andrews.
But this will represent the first non-major tour event since his return. And despite his lack of action Woods, 47, will no doubt be eying a record-breaking victory, with the former world No 1 currently tied with Sam Snead on PGA Tour successes.
That's not all that's at stake for the game's biggest global star though. Inactivity has seen Woods drop down to 1,294 in the Official World Golf Ranking, a far cry from his heyday when he spent 264 consecutive weeks on top between August 1999 and September 2004.
An unlikely win would be rewarded with a seismic rise though. According to Golf Monthly, if the American prevails he will be up as high as No 54, almost identical to his placing at the time of his harrowing crash - when he was ranked at No 53.
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Woods was placed inside the top 750 following his creditable showing at Augusta last year, but that was undone at Southern Hills Country Club, when he withdrew from the US PGA after three rounds due to being hampered by leg injuries. He plummeted further at The Open, but was afforded a standing ovation down the 18th hole on the Friday.
Woods played alongside son Charlie at the PNC Championship in November (PGA TOUR)He showed flashes of form at the PNC Championship in December though, playing alongside son Charlie. And the icon has also played an active role on the PGA Tour of late, albeit off the course.
Last summer, he addressed tour players in a specially arranged meeting amid the threat posed by LIV Golf, with the man himself turning down a staggering £600 million offer to join the Saudi-backed tour. He and Rory McIlroy have also combined to form the TGL, a part virtual concept designed to attract a new audience to the sport.
His return to the Genesis Invitational will serve as a major boost to organisers in terms of publicity and viewer interest. It's also an event that the all-time great has never won, losing successive playoffs in 1998 and 1999.