The PGA Tour “wrap around” season includes fifty events played over forty-six weeks, and with the conclusion of the Mexico Open, thirty of those events have been completed—so it’s a perfect time to review performance and consider the possibilities as the season moves toward the remaining three majors and into the FedEx Cup.
The GolfDay Power Rating is based on PGA Tour wins, Top 10 and Cut percentage, and performance at the major championships. The majors carry the most weight, followed by regular tour wins, and then Top 10 and Cut percentage.
Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler have been in a back-and-forth battle for the top spot in the Power Ratings (and the World Golf Rankings) since the season began, but Rahm’s win at The Masters opened up some distance between them.
Rahm has recorded 4 Tour wins thus far in ’23, including a major championship, while Scheffler has recorded 2 Tour wins including The Players Championship.
Xander Schauffele comes in at No. 3. Although he is yet to record a win in ‘23, Xander has made the cut in all twelve of the events he’s played and recorded 7 Top-10’s (including a T10 at the Masters).
Rankings (Top 10 through May 1—minimum 10 events played)
| Jon Rahm | 228.4 |
| Scottie Scheffler | 200.0 |
| Xander Schauffele | 160.0 |
| Max Homa | 155.1 |
| Tony Finau | 142.8 |
| Patrick Cantley | 140.2 |
| Victor Hoveland | 140.0 |
| Sahith Theegala | 134.7 |
| Jordan Spieth | 131.6 |
| Cameron Young | 122.8 |
With his sixth career win at the Mexico Open last weekend, Tony Finau joined Rahm, Scheffler and Max Homa as the only multiple winners on tour in 2023—and moved Tony into the top 5 on the Power Ratings.
The Numbers
| Wins | Top 10 % | Cut % | |||
| Jon Rahm | 4 | Jon Rahm | 67.7 | Scottie Scheffler | 100 |
| Scottie Scheffler | 2 | Scottie Scheffler | 67.7 | Xander Schauffele | 100 |
| Max Homa | 2 | Xander Schauffele | 58.3 | Victor Hoveland | 100 |
| Tony Finau | 2 | Patrick Cantley | 54.6 | Cameron Young | 100 |
| 20 Players | 1 | Max Homa | 46.2 | Sahith Theegala | 94.1 |
| Jason Day | 42.9 | Sungjae Im | 93.8 | ||
| Victor Hoveland | 41.7 | Tony Finau | 92.3 | ||
| Jordan Spieth | 41.7 | Rickie Fowler | 92.3 | ||
| Sahith Theegala | 41.2 | Jon Rahm | 91.7 | ||
| Sungjae Im | 37.5 | Patrick Cantley | 90.9 |
The Power Rating Top 10 also includes three talented 25-year-olds who will no doubt make some noise at the remaining 2023 Majors:
Victor Hovland has made the cut in all 12 of the events he’s entered with 5 Top 10’s (including a T7 at The Masters). Hoveland is currently No. 12 in the Word Golf Rankings
Sahith Theegala, in his second year on Tour, has made the cut in 16 of his 17 events with 7 Top-10’s (including a 9th place finish at The Masters). Theegala, who resides in Houston, TX, has climbed to No. 24 in the World Golf Rankings.
Cameron Young, also in his second year on Tour, has made the cut in all 11 events he’s played with 3 Top 10’s (including a T7 at The Masters). Young, who also had a runner-up at The Open Championship in 2022, is No. 16 in the World Golf Rankings.
The Wells Fargo Championship
While neither Rahm nor Scheffler is in the field at Quail Hollow this week, the other 8 players in the Power Rating Top 10 will be teeing it up–along with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas.
Quail Hollow, home to the Wells Fargo Championship, hosted the PGA Championship in 2017 and the Presidents Cup in 2022. And since the Wells Fargo has also been elevated to a “Designated Event” with a $20 million dollar purse, the field is among the deepest all year.
A win at Quail Hollow would move Xander Schaufflele or Max Homa very close to Scheffler, and within striking distance of Rahm going into the PGA at Oak Hill, so you can bet they will be geared up and ready to go.
Justin Thomas has been under the radar thus far in 2023. Although he’s made 9 cuts in 10 events, Justin has yet to record a win with only 2 Top-10’s—but he won the PGA at Quail Hollow back in 2017, so perhaps he’ll capture some good vibes and get his season rolling.
Rory
After his poor showing at The Masters, Rory backed out of the RBC Heritage and has played only 7 PGA Tour events all year, missing the cut in two of them. While he’s recorded 3 Top-10’s including a win this year, McIlroy will need to light the afterburner if he wants to catch Rahm and Scheffler.
Quail Hollow may turn out to be exactly what the doctor ordered though. Since 2012, Rory has played the Wells Fargo nine times and finished in the Top-10 in eight of them, including two wins, a runner-up and 2 Top-5’s.
If Rory gets it going this week and records his second win of the year, it will set the stage for a heck of showdown at the PGA Championship.
Looking Ahead
This week the Tour heads north for the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC (May 4-7), and then to Texas for the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney.
The second major of the season is next with the PGA Championship at famed Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY (May 18-21) and then moves back to Texas for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Wot Worth (May 25-28).
