It’s abundantly clear that Scottie Scheffler is the very best male golfer on the planet.
After that? You can also make an argument for a number of gamers however nobody stands out above the remainder.
Scheffler is the dominant prime canine amongst energetic gamers for every little thing besides complete profession accomplishments. He simply gained the Masters, was the primary to repeat as a Gamers champion and has been main Knowledge Golf’s Strokes Gained complete metric over the previous two and a half years.
We’re witnessing greatness with Scheffler, a participant who has a path to turning into the very best since Tiger.
When you have been to rank gamers since 2010, Scheffler wouldn’t be on the prime but—he wants extra main victories to get there—however he’s left little doubt about his No. 1 spot over the previous few years, together with 2024.
Who would you place behind Scheffler for the very best participant? Not by way of total résumé however a mixture of present kind, main championship pedigree and complete talent/consistency.
I’ve a tough time choosing somebody. Listed here are the candidates:
Brooks Koepka
Execs: Koepka has 5 majors—forward of all energetic gamers 40 or youthful—and has completed prime two within the majors 9 occasions since 2017. No different golfer has completed within the prime two greater than 4 occasions in that very same span.
Relating to peaking for the majors, Koepka has that canine in him. And say what you’ll about LIV’s exhibition format however Koepka has gained 4 occasions on the circuit. The newest got here final week in Singapore, two weeks earlier than his PGA Championship title protection.
Cons: The stats paint a grim image of Koepka’s inconsistency. After the Masters, he momentarily fell to No. 70 within the Knowledge Golf rankings (he has since climbed again to No. 50). Relative to his friends, Koepka shouldn’t be particular in any specific bodily talent. By the numbers, his kind is roughly on par with the injury-riddled 2022 season when he ejected from all 4 majors. In his final two majors, he didn’t end within the prime 40.
Koepka, now 34, has a feast-or-famine mentality. It’s tough to say he’s the No. 2 participant in all of golf when he has routinely completed outdoors the highest 20 in LIV occasions with 54-man fields. And going again a few years, he was doing the identical factor in PGA Tour occasions.
Xander Schauffele
Execs: So if Koepka is No. 50 within the Knowledge Golf rankings, who’s No. 2? It’s Schauffele, a human ATM with the best flooring amongst any golfer not named Scottie Scheffler. Schauffele is definitely gaining greater than two strokes per spherical in opposition to the sphere, resulting in seven top-10 finishes this season.
You recognize precisely what you might be getting with Schauffele. The final time he missed a reduce was the 2022 Masters. He’s virtually a positive guess to hit the primary web page of the leaderboard in golf’s largest occasions. He has 12 top-10 finishes in majors over simply 27 appearances.
Cons: Schauffele is constant however he doesn’t win sufficient. He’s the antithesis of Koepka in that manner. His final victory got here within the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open, almost two years in the past.
For no matter cause, Schauffele doesn’t cross the attention take a look at when he’s in competition to win a serious or a giant match. The Gamers Championship was a terrific instance—a few psychological errors down the stretch price him.
It’s laborious to make a convincing case that somebody who doesn’t persistently win tournaments must be thought of the second-best golfer within the sport.
Rory McIlroy
Execs: If it’s not the No. 2 golfer in Knowledge Golf, how in regards to the No. 2 participant within the Official World Golf Rating? Rory McIlroy is No. 2 within the OWGR and No. 4 in Knowledge Golf, making him a very good candidate on paper. He simply gained the Zurich Traditional alongside teammate Shane Lowry and he additionally had a person triumph on the Dubai Desert Traditional this yr. Just like Schauffele, McIlroy’s flooring is absurdly excessive.
Not like Schauffele, McIlroy has an undeniably sturdy main file. Whereas his 4 victories got here from 2011-2014, he has 30 profession top-10 finishes—and 7 of them have come since 2022.
Cons: McIlroy has been simply OK (by his lofty requirements) in 2024, ending outdoors the highest 20 in six of his eight solo Tour begins.
However the largest issue for me is that he doesn’t rise to the event in huge occasions. It’s been a decade since he gained a serious and it does really feel like “his period” has handed to a sure diploma. He’s solely 35 and can have a extra probabilities to win one nevertheless it gained’t be getting any simpler.
Jon Rahm
Execs: The very best reply to this query might be Rahm, regardless of his standing at No. 5 in each Knowledge Golf and the OWGR. Rahm has two main wins up to now 4 years and 12 top-10 finishes since 2018 so he checks off the latest main success field. And regardless of a disappointing T45 on the Masters, Rahm is 7-for-7 in prime 10s on LIV since becoming a member of in December of final yr so present kind shouldn’t be a difficulty.
When you return to 2023, Rahm gained 4 occasions early within the yr and was aggressive in three of the 4 majors. You need to determine he might be concerned in a minimum of two of the following three majors, barring some psychological shift since his transfer to LIV.
Cons: I’m involved on the psychological aspect. Rahm appeared uncharacteristically cagey on the Masters and I’m not ruling out that he may very well be trending within the flawed path. He’s essentially the most intense competitor of anybody who has gone to LIV so enjoying exhibition golf full-time may impact him.
It’s nitpicking however Rahm additionally appears to toggle forwards and backwards between runs the place he’s both a world-beater or is ejecting from tournaments. He was outdoors the highest 30 six occasions final yr on Tour. And in 2022, he solely had one Tour victory—in opposition to a nasty area within the Mexico Open.
Wyndham Clark
Execs: Wyndham Clark is No. 3 within the OWGR? I didn’t get that memo.
If you’re in search of present kind, Clark has adopted up a breakout 2023 with a powerful 2024. He gained the AT&T Pebble Seashore Professional-Am and got here near profitable the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Gamers Championship. A latest top-five end result on the RBC Heritage was a pleasant rebound from lacking the reduce on the Masters.
It’s additionally key to notice Clark’s victory within the U.S. Open final yr. He has proven he can peak for the very best tournaments.
Cons: It’s powerful to substantiate whether or not Clark is simply on a heater or he’s certainly a world-class participant with endurance. His U.S. Open victory is his solely top-30 end in a serious and it’s been an all-or-nothing mentality this season—outdoors of the 4 outcomes I discussed, he has no prime 25s in six begins.
He’s within the dialog nevertheless it’s laborious to place him forward of somebody like Rahm.
Ludvig Åberg
Execs: We want a greater phrase than “meteoric rise” for Ludvig Åberg, who’s immediately No. 3 in Knowledge Golf.
If this query is barely about present kind proper now, how may you not go along with Åberg? He was runner-up on the Masters—his first main begin—and has 5 prime 10s in 2024. He additionally simply appears to be like the half. Åberg is an unimaginable driver of the ball and his solely actual weak point is across the greens (No. 112 this season).
This can be a future world No. 1 if Scheffler exhibits any indicators of being human.
Cons: The one actual con—aside from the aforementioned chipping struggles—is that we simply don’t have a lot information on Åberg. We assume he can win huge tournaments however he solely has one Tour title.
He did flinch within the last spherical of the Masters as a poor second shot on No. 11 price him any probability of catching Scheffler, who in all probability wasn’t going to be caught anyway. That second apart, he appears to be like able to win a serious.
My Last Rankings
Given standards of present kind plus latest main file plus total consistency, I might have my participant rankings appear to be this:
Scottie Scheffler
Jon Rahm
Ludvig Åberg
Brooks Koepka
Wyndham Clark
Rory McIlroy
Xander Schauffele
That is an unscientific checklist, nevertheless it’s form of a belief index heading into the PGA Championship.
I’m banking on Rahm getting again into competition in the course of the main season. He’s too good.
On the identical time, I’m bullish on Åberg to proceed his torrid tempo. I belief him barely greater than Koepka, simply based mostly on pure expertise stage and consistency. And, regardless of his LIV victory, I’m nonetheless a tinge involved after Koepka had a tricky Masters. His main file does a variety of heavy lifting right here and justifiably so.
I believe Clark may simply bag one other main and I’ve extra confidence in him to take action than McIlroy or Schauffele. Though, satirically, I believe a McIlroy or Schauffele top-10 end is a safer guess than Clark doing so.
Do you agree or disagree? Are there different gamers who must be thought of?
Let me know beneath within the feedback.
The put up Who Is Golf’s Second-Finest Participant? It’s Open For Debate appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
