Tiger Woods has dropped out of the world 's top 100 golfers for the first time since 1996 . The 39-year-old has struggled to return to the form which saw him spend a record 683 weeks as world No 1 and is now ranked 104 in the official rankings . The 14-time major winner carded an 82 at the Phoenix Open in January , a round which he described as his worst as a professional . Tiger Woods has not been outside the world 's top 100 since 1996 , when he was just 20 years old . Woods has not played competitively since withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open in February . Woods ( right ) receives the green jacket from Nick Faldo after winning the Masters at Augusta in 1997 . Woods has not played since he withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open on February 6 saying he will not return until he can `` compete at the highest level '' . Woods has said he is `` hopeful '' of a return at the Masters which starts on April 9 , but if he does forgo the tournament it will be the second successive occasion he has done so . Woods was last outside the top 100 in September 1996 when he was ranked 225 . The then 20-year-old won the Las Vegas Invitational , the first of his 79 PGA Tour victories . Woods ( right ) walks the fairway with Rickie Fowler before withdrawing from the February event with an injury . Tiger Woods ( left ) pictured with girlfriend Lindsey Vonn at the Alpine World Ski Championships last month .
Tiger Woods falls outside the top 100 for first time since 1996 . Woods has n't played competitively since February when he was injured . He was world number one in January and then fell to second place after a back injury forced him out of tournaments last month.