Tiger Woods has not had a good year, in fact, he has not had a good two years.

Woods' dramatic fall from grace has been nothing short of startling, and sadly, things have just got worse for the American.

For the first time in his career, Woods, who can easily stake a claim to be one of the greatest of all time, has dropped out of the top 1,000 golfers in the world, with the latest rankings showing him to be sat in position 1,005.

Over the last two years, Woods has just about had more back surgeries than he has played in golf tournaments with new ailments scuppering any attempt to return to the sport at every turn.

Woods was also forced to seek treatment to help him manage the medication he was taking for his back pain, after an adverse reaction to that same medication led to his arrest in Florida earlier this year.

It almost seems bizarre that he should want to continue after all that he has been through, lurching from one crisis to another, but one can not fault his grit and determination to get back to the sport he loves.

One can, however, question whether or not it is wise. 

It seems his back is only getting worse, and many would advise Woods to bite the bullet and move on from what has been a turbulent last few years.

The 41-year-old is only three short of Sam Snead's record of 82 PGA titles, but has not won a single thing on the tour since 2013, when he won the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational, while his last Major title came at the US Open way back in 2008.

For a man who once held the number one ranking in golf for an astounding 683 weeks (that's over 13 years for those who not so quick with numbers), to drop out of the top 1,000 is truly a sad sight and just goes to show how extreme Woods' fall has been.

It looks like Jack Nicklaus' record is safe after all.