Tiger Woods heading out of top ten - but still leading sports star

Even if his leg is getting better, things are about to get a whole lot worse for Tiger Woods as far as his world ranking goes.

With Woods not playing in Texas this week, the projection for next Monday's updated table is that he will fall out of the top ten for the first time since he won the 1997 Masters - his first major as a professional. Pulling out of last week's Players Championship after nine holes with knee and Achilles problems left the former number one at eighth in the standings, but England's Paul Casey and Americans Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson are now set to move ahead of him.

Woods could even fall as low as 13th if Masters champion Charl Schwartzel reaches the knockout stages - the last 16 - of the Volvo World Match Play in Spain and if Jim Furyk wins in Fort Worth.

Without a tournament win in 18 months, Woods' points average will be down to 5.03 on Monday. After the last of his 14 major wins at the 2008 US Open it stood at 21.5, and the gap between him and second-placed Phil Mickelson was more than the difference between Mickelson and the player ranked 1,000th in the world.

Despite not finishing a tournament atop the leaderboard since winning the 2009 Australian Masters., Woods' star power apparently remains nearly as bright as ever with the American still the biggest celebrity in the sports world, according to Forbes Magazine.

Woods is No6 on Forbes' annual "Celebrity 100" compilation of the most powerful people or groups in the entertainment business, the highest rank of any of the 19 athletes who made the list. Woods was No5 on Forbes' list in 2010, when the magazine estimated his annual earnings at $105 million - $30 million less than what it estimated him to make over the most recent 12-month period.

Even after taking major endorsement hits following the scandal that ended his marriage, Woods still made $22 million more than Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant (14th on the list) in the past year, Forbes said.