The advantage that Scottie Scheffler has gained as World Number One after his two consecutive victories, with a 4.38 point lead over Number 2, Rory McIlroy, is starting to become truly significant. To find the last time a player had a larger margin, we have to go back to week 19 of 2017, when the Number One, Dustin Johnson, had a lead of 4.819 over the Number 2, who was also Rory curiously enough.
The previous occasion takes us back to week 20 of 2015, a specific moment when the Number One, Rory McIlroy, had a lead of 4.46 points over the Number 2, who was Jordan Spieth.
In the last decade, no Number One had a greater advantage than in these three moments, led by Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson, and Rory McIlroy. And it’s not a minor issue, when once again it’s being considered whether a player, in this case Scheffler, will be able to establish a great hegemony.
As if that were not enough, Scheffler is already within reach of the two records mentioned by D.J. and Rory McIlroy, in 2017 and 2015, as the Texan competes next week in the Texas Children’s Houston Open, an event that McIlroy will not be attending. However, he would need a great result to take his lead beyond those 4.819 points that Johnson had almost seven years ago, although not necessarily the victory.
When talking about world ranking, sooner or later the name of Tiger Woods comes up. It’s inevitable. His, for a long time, was more than hegemony, it was tyranny. If Scheffler were to surpass those two barriers set by D.J. and Rory, the next milestone in time would take us to 2013, specifically to week 31, when the Number One, Tiger Woods, had a lead of 5.62 points over the Number 2, who was Phil Mickelson (Rory, by the way, who appears everywhere, was at that specific point the Number 3).
It was the last big cushion that Tiger had (there were many moments throughout his career when his lead far exceeded fifteen points, and even reached over twenty…), before losing the world Number One forever a few months later, well into 2014.
