GOLF:TIGER Woods, expected to announce later this week that he is returning to action at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday week, is out of the world's top 20 for the first time since January 1997.

The man who held the number one spot for more than 11 years in 10 different spells has not played since May 12th because of knee and Achilles tendon injuries.

He has dropped from eighth to 21st in the rankings in that time and last Wednesday announced on his website that he will not have New Zealand caddie Steve Williams by his side on his return.

“I think it’s time for a change,” he said without naming a replacement.

Williams was shocked by the decision. He said: “You could say I’ve wasted the last two years of my life. I’ve stuck with Tiger and been incredibly loyal. I’m not disappointed I’ve been fired – that’s part of the job – but the timing is extraordinary.”

Sergio Garcia has earned a place in next week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone by keeping his place in the game’s top 50. Back to form with two successive top-10 finishes in Majors and a play-off defeat in Germany in between, Garcia is 48th going into this week’s Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia.

Alex Noren’s runaway win in Sweden moved him up from 92nd to 70th, but he already had a place in Akron thanks to his Wales Open victory last month.