Tiger's stature is why rankings slip is worth writing about

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Tiger Woods during the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

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Slipping from second to third in the world rankings would hardly rank as newsworthy – but that’s yet another piece of evidence that Tiger Woods’ career has been that incomparable.

He will sit third in the world order, behind Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer. To understand how significant that is, consider that Woods hasn’t been that low since a five-week stretch in October 2004.

Back then, Woods had fallen to third, behind Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.

Woods moved back to No. 2 in November 2004, then traded the top spot with Singh in the spring of 2005 before wresting it away on June 12, 2005. He then held on to it for an incredible 281 weeks, not losing it until Oct. 30, 2010, when Westwood earned it.

As an even greater testament to the Woods era, you would have to go back to May 16, 1999, for the next most-recent time when he didn’t rank first or second. At that time, David Duval was first and Davis Love III was second.