The resounding victory of Scottie Scheffler at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas has had a direct impact on the world golf rankings. The World Number One has further increased his lead over Xander Schauffele, who is in second place. Specifically, they are now separated by 6.7737 points. Scheffler is above 16, while Schauffele is just over nine and a half points.
The difference is significant, but since it’s easy to get lost with the points and the world ranking isn’t particularly clear, the best way to quantify that advantage is to use a concrete example that we can all understand: for Schauffele to catch up with Scheffler at this moment, he would need to win three Majors in a row and Scottie would have to miss the cut… In other words, an absolute improbability, both the first and second parts of the equation. This has been predicted by Nosferatu, a guru of the world ranking on social media.
Scheffler’s lead is enormous, although it’s not the largest he’s had this year. That occurred in week 28, just before the Open Championship at Royal Troon. At that time, Scheffler reached a difference of 8.6547 points over Rory McIlroy, who was in second place. Regardless, what is evident is that the Number One still has many weeks ahead at the top of the rankings, which translates into more records that will continue to fall.
This Monday marked 82 consecutive weeks as the Number One in the world rankings. He has surpassed the 81-week streak set by Nick Faldo and has become the third longest in history. Ahead of him are only a 96-week streak by Greg Norman and two by Tiger Woods of 281 and 264 consecutive weeks. Norman’s first streak has an expiration date. Specifically, Scheffler will surpass it in the second week of March. It will then be only Tiger Woods ahead of him. Tiger’s records, however, are a different league, but right now there could even be a debate about whether he will achieve it, something that was previously just a fantasy with any other player.
Another record Scheffler has conquered after his triumph in the Bahamas is the total points accumulated in a calendar year. He will end 2024 with a total of 727.45482 points. It is the fifth time a player has surpassed the 700-point mark and the third different player to do so. Tiger Woods achieved it three times (2000, 2005, and 2006) and Vijay Singh did it once (2004). In other words, it has taken 18 years for a new player to surpass that mythical 700-point figure. Once again, Tiger and Scheffler in the same sentence.
For those who do not consider the world golf ranking as a source of authority, just remember that in the Universal Golf Ranking, a classification that does include LIV Golf, Scheffler has been Number One in the world for a year and a half, specifically since 21 May 2023.
