Tiger Woods drops down rankings on return to competition

Tiger Woods' return to golf next week will come as he suffers his biggest one-week drop in the world rankings.

Woods will play the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio - his first event since mid-May - while sitting 28th at best on the rankings, a fall of seven places from this week.

The former world No?1, who has been suffering from knee and Achilles tendon injuries and missed both the US Open and The Open during his lay-off, fell out of the top 20 this Monday for the first time since January 1997.

Last week he fired Steve Williams, caddie for 13 of his 14 major titles, after the New Zealander apparently upset him by working for Adam Scott at the AT&T National without seeking permission.

It was reported on The Golf Channel on Thursday night that childhood friend Byron Bell, president of Tiger Woods Design, would return to caddying duties at Firestone, although there has been no confirmation of that yet.

Woods is without a major victory since the 2008 US Open and without a tournament win since November 2009, but he was still world No?1 as recently as last October. His last playing appearance was the Players Championship in Florida, where he limped through nine holes in a six-over-par 42 before quitting.

"I'm excited to get back out there," he said in announcing his comeback on his website.

The announcement also said he had only just recently begun hitting balls again, so it remains to be seen how he performs on the course where he has won seven World Championships, but last year finished joint 78th out of 80 on 18-over-par as his divorce was being finalised.

"It's great he's coming back to play again," said Open champion Darren Clarke. "He's been a very good friend for a long time. He offered some helpful advice on the Saturday (of Open week], but I'm not going to tell you what it was."