Woods slips to eighth in rankings, Mickelson only American in top seven

Tiger Woods has dropped to eighth in the world golf rankings after being overtaken by Paul Casey of England.

Casey moved up to seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking released Monday despite missing the cut last week at the Wells Fargo Championship. Woods skipped the event because of knee and Achilles’ tendon injuries.

Fourth-ranked Phil Mickelson of the United States is now the only non-European player in the top seven.

No. 1 Lee Westwood's decision not to play at the Players Championship this week -- sixth-ranked Rory McIlroy is also skipping golf's richest event -- means he could lose top spot to Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald or Mickelson.

Kaymer would need to finish first or second on Sunday, while Donald and Mickelson -- neither of whom has ever led the rankings -- would have to win.

Woods has now fallen so far that even if he was to record his first victory anywhere since November 2009, he could climb only as high as fourth.

After Woods come No. 9 Steve Stricker and No. 10 Matt Kuchar.

The second 10 includes No. 11 Bubba Watson, No. 12 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, No. 13 Dustin Johnson, No. 14 Jim Furyk, No. 15 Nick Watney, No. 16 Ernie Els, No. 17 Adam Scott, No. 18 Ian Poulter, No. 19 Francesco Molinari and No. 20 Hunter Mahan.

Lucas Glover climbed 61 places with his victory at the Wells Fargo Championship and is now No. 49, while Spanish Open winner Thomas Aiken rose to No. 73.