Only Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth reached No. 1 faster than Scottie Scheffler
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AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 27: Scottie Scheffler of the United States celebrates with his wife Meredith Scheffler on the 15th green after defeating Kevin Kisner of the United States 4&3 in their finals match to win the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 27, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
At the beginning of February, Scottie Scheffler didn’t own a PGA TOUR win. Now he’s a three-time winner and sits atop both the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking.
Scheffler ascended to the top of the world ranking after Sunday’s victory in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, becoming the 25th man to reach No. 1 since the OWGR debuted in 1986. Only Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth needed fewer starts as a pro to reach the top spot.
Woods needed just 21 starts to reach No. 1, while Spieth did it in 77 events as a pro. The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play was Scheffler’s 92nd start as a pro. He turned pro in the summer of 2018, was the Korn Ferry Tour’s Player of the Year the next year and won the PGA TOUR’s Rookie of the Year Award just 18 months ago.
Scheffler, 25, is also just the sixth player to reach world No. 1 at the age of 25 or younger. He joins Woods, Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm. Of the six players to reach No. 1 at 25 or younger, just three did it in the first 30 years of the OWGR. Three players – Thomas, Rahm and Scheffler – have done it in the last four years. Scheffler supplanted Rahm, whom he also beat in Singles at last year’s Ryder Cup, atop the world ranking.
Scheffler also is the first player to reach three wins this season. He now holds a 780-point lead over second-ranked Sam Burns and is 816 points ahead of Cameron Smith, winner of the Sentry Tournament of Champions and THE PLAYERS. Hideki Matsuyama is the only other player within 1,000 FedExCup points of Burns. Burns, Smith and Matsuyama have all won twice this season.
Scheffler’s 780-point lead is the largest advantage with 19 events remaining in the Regular Season since 2009, when the current FedExCup points structure was introduced.
Sean Martin manages PGATOUR.COM’s staff of writers as the Lead, Editorial. He covered all levels of competitive golf at Golfweek Magazine for seven years, including tournaments on four continents, before coming to the PGA TOUR in 2013. Follow Sean Martin on Twitter.