Seem’s like we were just watching Scottie Scheffler slip the green jacket over his shoulders, and suddenly the PGA Championship is upon us. The eve of a major championship is always alive with anticipation and excitement, but the ‘24 PGA has the protentional for all-time greatness.
This may be the most highly talented field ever assembled for a golf championship, when you consider Tiger’s 15 majors, Phil with 6, Brooks Koepka at 5, Rory at 4, and Jordan Spieth with 3—a total of 33 major championships between them.
For perspective, the 1963 PGA Championship included Ben Hogan with 9 majors, Sam Snead and Arnie with 7 each, while Gary Player had won 3 majors at that point and Jack 2 (the ’63 PGA was Jack’s third major)—28 total majors.
In addition, the 2024 PGA includes future Hall of Famers Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler–each with 2 major championships.
Tiger and Phil (21 Majors Between Them)
And although the odds are pretty long that Tiger or Phil will be among the leaders on Sunday, it won’t be for lack of will—and watching them battle once again to turn back the hands of time will make for memorable viewing (and hopefully they will both be teeing it up on the weekend).
The big show without doubt, however, will be Scottie Scheffler–and if anybody can take him down.
On top of that, Scottie’s momentum has reached a crescendo coming into the PGA, with 4 wins and a runner-up in his last 5 starts. Keep in mind as well that this wave has been gathering strength for quite a while, with 26 Top-10’s in his last 33 starts going back to last year (and with no missed cuts)—so anybody who steps up to take him on better be ready to absorb some heavy blows.
Brooks Koepka: Looking for Sixth Major
The Top Contenders
Koepka: Defending champion Brooks Koepka is coming off a Top-10 and a win in his last two LIV events, and looks like he is primed and ready in pursuit of his sixth major. Koepka lives for major championships, so don’t expect him to take a dive.
McIlroy: It’s been ten years since Rory won his last major championship, but it was The PGA and it was at Valhalla. And although Rory was the invisible man in his first 8 starts of 2024, he’s posted a win in each of his last 2 (including a heavyweight performance at Quail Hollow last week). If McIlroy is making a few putts, even Scheffler will need his best to hold him off.
Rory: Back to Back at Valhalla?
Rahm: Jon Rahm put up the highest career cut and Top-10 percentages on the PGA Tour outside of Tiger and Jack, and has finished in the top ten of every LIV event he’s played. At 29 years old, Rahm is just now coming into his prime—look for him to rebound from the lackluster Masters performance and put some heat on Scheffler as he goes for major number 3.
Schauffele: Xander is having a heck of a 2024 season with 8 Top-10’s in 12 starts, and he hasn’t missed a cut in two years—but somehow that first major championship has eluded him. Always a great ball striker, Schauffele has made vast improvement from the tee (currently 6th in Total Driving) and stands at No. 2 behind Scheffler in scoring average. It’s just a matter of time before he breaks through at a major, and remember that Phil didn’t win his first until he was 33.
Ludvig Aberg: PGA Tour Phenom
Notables
Twenty-four-year-old Ludwig Aberg is going to be a major force on the PGA Tour for another decade and more, currently standing at No. 3 on the Tour Power Rankings with 5 Top-10’s in 10 starts, including a runner-up at The Masters. He bombs it from the tee and sticks his irons like Miller, but the putter has been holding him back—if the short stick heats up look for Ludwig toward the top of the leaderboard late on Sunday.
Joaquin Niemann is the young star on the LIV circuit, and he’ll be flying under the radar with Koepka and Rahm grabbing most of the attention—but he has 2 wins and leads the LIV Power Rankings by a pretty wide margin. Niemann has major championship ability and a golf swing that’s easy on the eyes—watch for him this weekend.
Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville KY
Valhalla Golf Club
A Jack Nicklaus masterpiece, Valhalla will present a stiff test for the PGA Championship with a USGA Course Rating of 77.5 and a Slope of 154. 2024 will be the fourth time that Valhalla has hosted the PGA (1996, 2000, 2014).
The buzz surrounding Scottie Scheffler’s fantastic season keeps getting louder every time he tees it up—but where does the ultra-hot start to his ’24 season stack up against some of the greatest seasons of all-time?
Through his first 10 starts, Scottie has recorded 4 wins, including The Players and The Masters, with 9 Top-10 finishes. After taking a look through the record books, Scheffler’s opening run in the ’24 season ranks at the very top since 1960—with only Tiger (of course) putting up a comparable record through the first 10 starts of the year in his monumental 2000 season.
Tiger: The Greatest Year
Tiger 2000
With 9 victories including 3 Major championship wins and a T5 at The Masters, the 2000 season was undoubtedly the greatest of Tiger’s amazing career. His first 10 starts that year couldn’t match what he did in the second half of the season (winning all three majors), but it was fantastic just the same with 9 Top-10’s including 4 wins and 4 runner-up finishes.
Although Tiger recorded the same number of wins with 3 more runner-up finishes and a slightly better average finish, he was 2nd in The Players and 5th at The Masters (Scheffler won both), so you have to give Scottie the nod by an eyelash.
Jack 1963
Although Nicklaus never had a “monster” year like Tiger in 2000, he had a ton of great ones to choose from—so we picked 1963 out of the hat. Jack finished the year with 5 wins, including The Masters and The PGA Championship along with 17 Top-10’s.
Jack Nicklaus
In his first 10 starts of ’63, Jack recorded 9 Top-10’s with 3 wins including The Masters, but Scheffler also won at Augusta and notched one more win—and it happened to be The Players, so once again it’s Scottie by a whisker.
Arnie 1961
Arnie had a tremendous year in ’61, making the cut in 25 of his 26 starts with 21 Top-10’s and 7 wins, including the Open Championship. He also recorded a runner-up at The Masters and a T5 at the PGA—while constantly having to look over his shoulder at Jack.
Arnie
It’s tough to have a great year without getting off to fast start, and Arnie did just that in ’61 with 9 Top-10 finishes in his first 10 starts including 3 wins. Unfortunately, Palmer missed the cut in the first tournament of the year at the LA Open, and then came heartbreak at the Masters when he made double on 18 to lose by a shot to Gary Player—so Arnie comes up just shy of Scottie’s run as well.
Johnny Miller
Johnny Miller
Perhaps the greatest iron player of all-time, Miller had his best year in 1972. Johnny made the cut in 20 of 22 starts with 13 Top-10’s and recorded 8 wins that year, and started the season sizzling hot with 3 consecutive wins (Crosby Pro-Am/Pebble Beach, The Phoenix Open and The Tucson Open).
Through his first 10 events, Johnny recorded 6 Top-10’s with 4 wins—a fantastic start to the season. As great as Johnny was at the start of ’72, it pales in comparison to what Scottie has done in 2024—and provides some perspective on just how good Scheffler has been this year.
Vijay Singh: 9 wins at 41
Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh played his first year on the PGA Tour at 30 years old, and had his greatest season in 2004 at the age of 41. In 29 starts, Vijay recorded 18 Top-10’s with 9 wins including The PGA Championship at Sahalee, while missing the cut just once.
In the first 10 starts of ’04 Vijay was terrific, making the cut in 9 of 10 events with 5 Top-10’s including a win, a runner-up and a T6 at The Masters—but still not close to the numbers Scheffler has put up.
The Road Ahead
No doubt Scottie takes it one round at a time, one tournament at a time, and that’s good–because if he looks hard at what it will take to match Tiger for the rest of the year, it may bring on a panic attack.
Scheffler will need to win 4 more times, including 2 additional majors, without missing a cut —while recording 8 more Top-10’s and throw in a T5 at the fourth major to boot.
With the way Scheffler is hitting the ball right now, and the confidence he exudes with every shot, it certainly brings back images of Tiger at the height of his powers—but can Scottie keep it up?
Every year The Masters kicks off a new golf season, and the 2024 edition is shaping up to be one for the ages. It seems like forever since Jon Rahm lifted the 2023 championship trophy, while his departure from the PGA Tour to join LIV at the end of the season brought on a seismic shift in the landscape of professional golf.
Jon Rahm: Reigning Masters Champion
In addition to his Masters victory, Rahm recorded 9 Top-10’s in 2023 including 3 more Tour wins, a T2 at the Open Championship and a T10 at the U.S. Open. Since joining LIV, Jon has played 5 events with 3 Top-5’s and 2 Top-10’s—so he’s primed and ready to defend his Masters title this weekend.
Scottie Scheffler, the 2022 Masters Champion, will be standing in his way, however—and when you look at the way Scheffler finished the 2023 season along with the incredible year he’s had thus far in 24’, Mr. Rahm will need every bit of his A game if he hopes to repeat at Augusta.
Scottie Scheffler: Current World Number 1
In his last 11 starts of 2023, Scottie recorded 9 Top 10’s including a T2 at The PGA and 3rd at the U.S. Open (for the year he made 23 of 23 cuts with 17 Top-10’s and 2 wins). Scottie’s 2024 season has been even more remarkable, with 7 Top-10’s in eight starts and 2 more wins including The Players Championship.
Let’s get ready to rumble!
Supporting Cast
Rory McIlroy has had a dismal season, but showed signs of life last week when he closed with a 66 to record his first Top 10 of the year. If Rory is on his game and making a few putts, even Scheffler and Rahm will have their hands full trying to hold him off—and he wants nothing more than to add a Green Jacket to his major championship profile page.
Rory McIlroy: Four Time Major Winner
After such a tough loss at The Players, Xander Schauffele has to be laser focused on landing that first major championship. Xander has 6 Top 10’s in 8 starts without missing a cut (42 in a row going all the way back to 2022)—so he is definitely due.
Xander Shauffele
Hideki Matsuyama had a forgettable 2023 season where he was making cuts (22 of 26), but recorded only 2 Top 10’s. That was last year—in only 9 starts so far this year Hideki has 3 Top 10’s including a win at The Genesis in LA and T6 at The Players. Keep in mind that Matsuyama already owns a Green Jacket (2021 Champ) and he’s coming off a strong showing (T7) at the Valero last week—look for him among the leaders heading into Sunday.
Hideki Matsuyama
Another player to keep an eye on is Wyndam Clark (reigning U.S. Open Champ). Wyndam recorded a win at Pebble Beach in the AT&T back in February, and had back-to-back runner-up finishes in March (Palmer Invitational and The Players). Clark crushes it, so if he’s dialed in this week listen for some pretty loud noise around the leaderboard come the weekend.
Wyndam Clark
Young Guns
Ludvig Aberg
This year’s Masters field will include perhaps the most talented group of young players ever assembled at Augusta National. Nick Dunlap (20), Akshay Bhatia (22), Ludvig Aberg (24), and. Sahith Theegala (26).
Akshay Bhatia
At only 20 years old, Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win a Tour event since Phil when he held off a strong field including Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele at the American Express in January. At 22, Akshay Bhatia has already won twice on Tour, including a gutsy win at the Valero last week—and with his power you can look for a ton of wedges at Augusta. Ludvig Aberg, by way of Sweden and Texas Tech, picked up his first Tour win at the RSM last Fall, and with his power and ball striking the wins will pile up fast when the putter comes around.
Sahith Theegala
A 3-time All-American at Pepperdine, Sahith Theegala has already recorded 17 Top-10’s including a win and a T-9 at the ’23 Masters—he’ll break out at a major more sooner than later, and Augusta suits his eye. Check out the current top 75 players on GolfDay’s 2024 Power Rankings.
The LIV Contingent
Brooks Koepka: 5 Major Championships
LIV will be sending 13 players to the Masters this year, and Jon Rahm is not the only one with a solid chance to don the Green Jacket on Sunday. Joaquin Niemann leads the LIV Power Rankings after winning 2 of the 5 events played thus far in 2024—and that is with Jon Rahm barking at his heels. Of the top 5 finishers at the 2023 Masters, 4 are currently playing on LIV—so it’s a pretty good bet that a few will be lurking among the leaders on Sunday. Remember that before he won the PGA last year, Brooks Koepka was lapping the field at Augusta through 3 rounds until Rahm chased him down. Don’t forget about DJ either—he recorded a LIV win earlier this year. And as long as Cameron Smith has a putter in his hands, he’s extremely dangerous—particularly on the immaculate greens at Augusta National. Probably not likely that Phil has another rabbit hidden under his hat like the one he pulled last year to finish runner up, but you never know. In any event, there’s no doubt the LIV group will make their presence felt.
Betting Odds
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Scottie Scheffler is the man to beat at (+400 to win)—but a few names of interest are included below (as of Wednesday evening).
Rory McIlroy +1000.
Jon Rahm +1100
Xander Schauffele at +1400
Brooks Koepka +1800
Hideki Matsuyama +2000
Jordan Spieth+2200
Joaquin Neimann +2800
Ludvig Oberg+3300
Wyndham Clark +4000
Patrick Cantlay+4000
Cameron Smith +5000
Sahith Theegala +5000
Max Homa +7500
Akshay Bhatia +11000.
Tiger Woods +15000
Phil Mickelson +27000
History
Augusta National has provided some of the greatest moments in golf history—from Jack’s magical victory at 46 years old in ’86, to Tiger’s win in ’01 that completed the “Tiger Slam.” And of course, who can forget Greg Norman’s monumental collapse at the ’96 Masters, or when Fred Couples’ tee shot on 12 miraculously defied gravity, clinging to the slope above Rae’s Creek as he went on to win. And then there was Phil’s leap, following his birdie on 18 to win his first major, and the amazing approach on 13 from the pine straw when he took home his third green jacket in 2010.
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Scottie Scheffler: Current Number 1 Player in The World
With Jon Rahm off to LIV and Rory’s game on sabbatical, Scottie Scheffler has become Chairman of the Board at PGA Tour Enterprises (the new “for profit” entity engineered by PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan to counter the Saudi-backed start-up league.)
To say Scottie is off to a hot start in 2024 is a massive understatement. Scheffler has made the cut in all 7 of the events he’s entered with 6 Top-10’s and 2 wins—including back-to-back at Bay Hill and The Players. The only tournament where Scottie finished outside the Top 10 was at the American Express back in January (T17).
Xander Schauffele
Xander Schauffele is having one hell of a year with 6 Top-10’s in 8 starts and no missed cuts, but he is a distant 2nd in the 2024 PGA Power Rankings through last week at The Valspar. Wyndam Clark stands at third, following up his outstanding 2023 season (U.S. Open Champ) with 3 Top-10’s, including a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. As you scan down the list of early season leaders, a number of new names jump out including Ludwig Aberg (No. 5), Jake Knapp (No.6) and Sahith Theegala (No. 7). Who are these new guys, and what can we expect from them in 2024?
Ludvig Aberg
Other than the greatest female golfer in history (Annika Sorenstam), Sweden has not generally been known for world class golf—although Stenson’s unforgettable duel with Phil at the 2016 Open Championship certainly shined some light in that direction.
Ludvig Aberg (pronounced oh-berg) won a host of junior events in Sweden, including the Annika Sorenstam Trophy, before heading to Texas Tech where he piled up accolades including the Ben Hogan Award (’21 and ‘22), Fred Haskins Award (’23) and the Jack Nicklaus Award (’23).
Since turning pro last year at the RBC Canadian Open, Ludvig has made the cut in 17 of 18 events with 7 Top 10’s and a win at the RSM Classic last November. At 24 years old, Aberg is a big guy (6’3”) and a fantastic driver of the ball who can also putt (1st in Total Driving and 7th in Putting last year)—a powerhouse combination. In his first appearance at The Players two weeks ago he fired 3 rounds of 67 for a T10 (8th), so it should be no surprise when you see his name on the leaderboard at The Masters in April.
Jake Knapp
Jake Knapp made some noise as an amateur 10 years ago in southern California, qualifying for the U.S. Open after just turning 21 in 2015—and then disappeared for the next eight years. Actually, he was honing his game on the Canadian Tour where he broke through for a pair of wins in 2019.
In 2023 Jake played the Korn Ferry Tour, and his game began to really kick in making the cut in 20 of 22 events with 10 Top 10’s in route to gaining his PGA Tour Card for the 2024 season—and he’s made the most it.
Knapp has missed the cut just once in 8 events with 3 Top-10’s including a win at the Mexico Open and a T3 at Torre Pines in The Farmers. He also followed up his win in Mexico the very next week with a T4 at PGA National in the Cognizant Classic—so he wasted no time basking in success.
The word is that Knapp was a bouncer during his time on the Canadian Tour, but since bouncers are generally pretty bulky and somewhat fierce looking, you have to wonder where Jake was working. In any event, you really have to pull for this young man—he’s certainly paid his dues.
Sahith Theegala
Sahith Theegala just turned 26 years old in December, but he’s already recorded 17 Top-10’s on the PGA Tour including a win at the Fortinet Championship and a T9 at The Masters last year.
Theegala’s fast start on the PGA Tour comes on the heels of an outstanding college golf career at Pepperdine, where he was a 3-tme All-American while winning the Ben Hogan, Fred Haskins, and Jack Nicklaus awards in 2020
Thus far in 2024 Sahith has finished among the top 10 in 4 of his 8 starts, including a T9 at The Players two weeks ago. Currently Sahith stands at No. 10 in scoring and 7th in putting. Winning major championships is as much about grit and determination as it is pure talent, and Theegala is very long on both—look for Sahith to make some noise on the weekend at Augusta.
Texas Children’s Houston Open
Scottie Scheffler and Wyndam Clark are teeing it up this weekend at Memorial Park in Houston for the Texas Children’s Houston Open, so two of the top three in the Power Rankings will be battling it out. Tony Finau, the defending champion, is looking to make it back-to-back in Houston for his 7th career win on the PGA Tour. Peter Malnati, looking to maintain momentum after his emotional win at the Valspar last week, is also in the field.
Tony Finau: Looks To Go Back To Back In Houston
36 Hole Leaders
1. Tony Finau (-9)
2. Alejandro Tosti (-7)
3. Thomas Detry (-6)
4 Scottie Scheffler and five others (-5)
Where To Watch
Saturday
1:00-3:30pm Golf Channel/Peacock
3:30-6:00pm NBC/Peacock
Sunday
1:00-2:30pm Golf Channel/Peacock
2:30-6:00pm NBC/Peacock
Memorial Park: Tom Doak Renovation
Memorial Park was originally designed by John Bredemus (1936) and most recently updated by none other than Tom Doak—a master of classic course restoration. One of the best Muni’s you will find anywhere, Memorial Park is among the rare group of modern-day courses that can provide a challenge to the greatest players in the world, and still be a ton of of fun for the weekend golfer.
This week will mark the 50th anniversary of The Players Championship–the showcase event on the PGA Tour. From Jack Nicklaus (winner in ‘74, ‘76, and ‘78), to Greg Norman (’94), to Tiger Woods (’01 and ’13) to Rory McIlroy (’19) and Scottie Scheffler (reigning champion), The Players has been a magnificent stage for the greats of the game to display their immense talent.
Rory is still at the top of his game if he holes a few putts (ranked No. 2 in the world), and Scottie Scheffler is on fire as the hands down favorite this week (No. 1 in the world, 2023 Players champ, and fresh off a dominating 5 shot victory at Bay Hill last week), but the field is extremely deep with a host of major champions and talented young stars, so the odds are good that a new name will be etched on the 2024 Players Championship trophy.
Scottie and Rory: 1 and 2 in the World Rankings
Preview
Wyndham Clark, the reigning U.S. Open Champion, is coming off a breakout season in 2023 where he recorded 8 Top Ten’s including 2 wins, and missed only 3 cuts. Thus far in ’24 he has made 5 of 6 cuts with a win at Pebble Beach in February and a runner-up last week at Bay Hill. Clark crushes it from the tee, so if he’s finding fairways this week you will likely see him among the last groups to go off on Sunday afternoon.
Wyndham Clark: Reigning U.S. Open Champion
Will Zalatoris, one of the premier ball-strikers in golf, is making only his sixth start following back surgery that cost him the bulk of the 2023 season. Not only did Will miss nine months of competitive golf, he was forced to make a major swing change to reduce the stress on his back. Recipe for a tough comeback year, right? Nope–in fact with his new putting approach (Broomstick Putter), he may be better than ever.
Will Zalatoris: Amazing Comeback
Zalatoris heads into the Players following a runner-up at the Genesis in LA and a T5 last week at Bay Hill—this may be the week when all that hard work delivers the ultimate payoff.
Xander Schauffele has not missed a cut since the 2022 Masters (40 consecutive events). And while he didn’t win in 2023, and hasn’t had a win yet this year, Schauffele has recorded 15 Top 10’s in his last 29 events—a level of performance only surpassed by Scottie Scheffler (22 Top 10’s).
One thing’s for sure—Xander is due (but will the putter cooperate down the stretch?). Speaking of players that are due, Victor Hoveland has made the cut in all four events he’s played this year without recording a Top 10. Considering his 2023 season included 9 Top 10’s and 3 wins, you have to believe a big week is looming (plus one of Victor’s Top 10’s last year was a T3 at the Players).
Viktor Hoveland: 3 Wins in 2023
After a disastrous 2023 campaign, Justin Thomas has righted the ship with a T3, a T6 and two T12’s in 5 events this year. With a pair of major championships under his belt and a win at the Players in 2021, don’t be surprised if Justin is lurking on the leaderboard come Sunday. There are quite a few young players to keep an eye on as well, including Sahith Theegala, Ludvig Aberg, Jake Knapp and Nick Dunlap.
Sahith Theegala: Looking for the Big Win
Theegala has made 6 of 7 cuts this year including 3 Top-10’s, on top of 8 Top-10’s with a win in 2023. Ludwig Aberg, the long hitting Texas A&M standout from Sweden, has made the cut in all 6 of his starts this year including 2 Top-10’s. Jake Knapp recorded a win at the Mexico Open in February, and has made 6 of 7 cuts with 3 Top 10’s. Twenty-year old Nick Dunlap bested the field at The American Express in January while still a student at Alabama, the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil won the Northern Telecom Open all the way back in 1991.
Nick Dunlap: First Amateur Win Since Phil
Dunlap is a long shot for sure, particularly because experience goes a long way at TPC Sawgrass, but he has the power and precision—so maybe he’ll deliver an all-time shocker (he already did it once this year).
In the early 1970’s, former PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman wanted to create a championship that would showcase the talent and power of professional golf in America, and shine a bright light on the PGA Tour—home to the greatest golfers in the world.
Initially called “The Tournament Players Championship,” Beman’s vision immediately gained momentum as Jack won the inaugural event in 1974, and three of the first five. The next step was to build a permanent venue that could stand with the four majors, demanding championship golf at the highest level—and so Pete Dye was brought aboard. Not only did Beman want a course that would be a stiff test of golf, he also wanted breathtaking visual appeal and viewing areas that would maximize the experience for fans.
TPC Sawgrass: Pete Dye Masterpiece
Pete Dye delivered precisely what was ordered, and then he added icing on the cake with classically positioned risk and reward holes to build maximum excitement and drama—thus creating a treasure trove of moments to be remembered and discussed year after year.
The Stadium Course at TPC at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL is perennially ranked by Golf Digest among the top 100 golf facilities in the U.S., and is one of Pete Dye’s crowning achievements. And to guarantee the field is maintained at a major championship level, the PGA Tour has continuously raised the purse over the years, making The Players the richest golf event in the world by a wide margin (this year the purse stands at $25 million).
Memorable Moments: Be The Right Club Today
Most everybody has seen the clip of Hal Sutton intently staring down an approach shot, saying “Be the right club…be the right club today!” 2000 Players Championship, eighteenth hole, eyeball to eyeball with Tiger Woods at the very top of his game.
Every golfer has heard the saying “drive for show, putt for dough,” but you’ll find that’s pretty far from the truth once you’ve logged a round or two.
Think about your best days on the course. No doubt you holed some putts—but it’s pretty much guaranteed the driver was operating at or near full capacity. Golf is a whole lot easier from the middle of the fairway—and exponentially so when you’re hitting wedge into the green as opposed to middle or long iron.
You also have to work pretty hard to make a double after a solid drive in the fairway, but a snap hook tee ball that disappears in the woods or a weak flare that settles down in heavy rough a couple hundred yards from the green generally spells bogey at best.
A good way to demonstrate the paramount importance of driving is to look at the top echelon players in professional golf—and they have almost universally been big hitters down through the years.
Tiger and Jack: Power and Greatness
The Longest and Greatest
Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are without question the greatest players in golf history, and also among the longest off the tee. Many consider Nicklaus the longest of all-time (according to Bobby Jones, Jack was ‘playing an entirely different game, and one which I’m not familiar with”). Unfortunately, official driving stats weren’t tracked by the PGA Tour until 1980 when Jack had already hit 40, but he still came in at No. 10 in distance and No. 1 in total driving with accuracy factored in (he hit 71.5% of the fairways).
Before knee and back injuries slowed him down in 2008, Tiger was in the top 10 for distance every year with the exception of 2003 (11th) and 2007 (12th). In 1999 Tiger was 3rd in distance and 4th in Total Driving, while piling up 7 Tour wins plus a major and 7 additional Top 10’s.
In 2000 Tiger amped up the big stick even further, finishing 2nd in distance and No.1 in total driving on his way to 3 major championships, 7 more regular tour titles and another 7 Top 10’s,
Driving and the World Number 1’s
Since the World Golf Rankings were established in 1986, twenty-five players have reached number 1 in the world and the vast majority have been long off the tee. Bernhard Langer was the first to hold the Number 1 moniker after his win at the ’85 Masters (yes, the same Bernhard who is still winning on the Champions Tour). Although Langer was not generally regarded as a long hitter, he ranked 17th in distance on the PGA Tour in ’85.
Following Bernard’s brief tenure as No. 1, the top spot oscillated between Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros though the end of 1990. Norman held World Number 1 longer than any player other than Tiger (331 weeks), and he is also regarded by many as the greatest driver of all time.
From 1984 to 1994, Norman was among the top ten in driving distance every year but two (No. 15 in 1989 and No. 32 in 1992). Not only was he long, but he was straight as well—No. 1 in total driving in 1988, 1989 and 1993 plus 5 years in the top ten.
Seve Ballesteros played predominantly on the European Tour (now the DP World Tour) and driving distance stats are sketchy, but he possessed a powerful (though somewhat erratic) tee shot. Seve drove the green on the Par 4 10th hole at the Belfry a number of times, a 290 plus yard carry over water calling for a high cut, including at the 1989 Ryder Cup where he dropped an Eagle putt from inside twenty feet. Keep in mind he was using a persimmon driver with a soft ballata golf ball, and the average distance off the tee on the PGA Tour that year was just under 262 yards.
Tiger held the top spot in the World Golf Rankings from 1999 through 2010 with the exception of 6 months in 2004/2005 when Vijay Singh (another fantastic driver of the ball) briefly moved into the No. 1 position. In all, Tiger was World Number 1 for an astounding 683 weeks—and an intimidating presence on the tee.
Between 1997 and 2007, Tiger was among the top five in distance six times, and the top ten every year but two (11th in 2003 and 12th in 2007).
Rory first reached number 1 in the world back in 2012 when he had just turned 23 years old, and has held the Number 1 position on and off for a total of 122 weeks (most recently from October ’22 through February ‘23).
And of course, McIlroy can bomb it with anybody (picture that majestic high draw that seems to carry forever). Since 2017 Rory has been either first or second in driving distance every year but one (4th in 2020) and led the Tour in distance last year averaging 326.3 yards.
Brooks and DJ: Big hitters Rising to #1
Dustin Johnson ascended to World No. 1 in 2017, and is behind only Tiger and Greg Norman for the longest time at the top (135 weeks). From 2009 through 2021, Johnson ranked among the top 5 in distance every year but 3 (6th in 2018, 10th in 2020 and 7th in 2021).
After winning the CJ Cub on the heels of two major championships (US Open and PGA), Brooks Koepkafirst assumed World Number 1 in October of 2018, and through February of 2020 he spent 47 weeks at the top. Between 2014 and 2019 Brooks finished outside the top 10 in driving distance only once (19th in 2016).
Knee and hip injuries at the end of 2019 through 2020 severely impacted Koepka’s driving distance and his ability to compete, but after rehab he was injury free in 2023 and recorded a runner up at the Masters, a win at the PGA and a top 20 at the US Open (where he was also second in driving distance averaging 320.6 yards).
Scheffler and Rahm: Battling for #1
Scheffler and Rahm
Jon Rahm or Scottie Scheffler have occupied the top spot in the World Golf Rankings since June of 2021 with the exception of DJ for a week in July of ’21 and Rory from October ’22 through February ’23.
Not surprisingly, both are fantastic drivers of the ball. Since 2017, Rahm finished outside the top 20 in distance only once (22nd in 2020) and was #1 in Total Driving twice—2021 and 2022. Scheffler has plenty of distance (16th in ‘20 and 19th in ‘22) while finishing among the top 10 in total driving 3 of the last 4 years (his lowest ranking was 13th in 2022).
The Putting Factor
There is no question that both Jack and Tiger were amazing putters, particularly on critical putts under maximum pressure, but while putting prowess separated them further from the field, the incredible record they each achieved would not have been possible without the power game.
Jack and Tiger: Power and Putting
Luke Donald possesses one of the finest putting strokes ever seen on the PGA Tour, finishing first in putting from 2009 through 2011. Luke was also a fantastic iron player, but struggled from the tee throughout his career.
In 2010 Donald ranked 186th on tour in total driving, but made a dramatic jump in both distance and accuracy in 2011, allowing him to ride that great putter all the way to #1 in the world. Unfortunately, Luke’s difficulties from the tee returned in 2013 and as his driving numbers dropped each year, so too did his world ranking—even as his putting stroke remained as silky as ever.
This is not to minimize the importance of putting, only to illuminate the fact that driving is far and away the biggest factor in determining success on the golf course. Power players have reached #1 in the world without being particularly good putters (Freddie Couples and Vijay Singh come immediately to mind), but some of the greatest putters in modern history who were not great drivers of the ball are conspicuously missing from the list of #1’s (Ben Crenshaw, Corey Pavin and Brad Faxon for example).
Bottom line is you drive for the dough, and putt for—well, some additional dough perhaps…
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.
Scottie Scheffler: 2023 Players Champion
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: Ranked No. 3 in 2023
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
Max Homa and Tony Finau: 2 wins each in 2023
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, Sahith Theegala and Cameron Young: Young Guns
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.
Quail Hollow Country Club: Charlotte, NC
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: 2017 PGA Champ at Quail Hollow
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.
Rory: Needs to light it up
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.
2023 PGA Championship: Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, NY
Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm have been battling it out for the top spot on the PGA Tour Power Rankings and the World Golf Rankings since the season began. With his win at The Masters, Jon placed some distance between he and Scottie for the #1 position–but that could be reversed in a heartbeat depending on what happens at Hilton Head this weekend.
Rahm is leading on the strength of 4 Tour wins including a major at Augusta last week, while Scheffler has recorded 2 wins including The Players and a T10 at The Masters. Scottie however, has the advantage in cut percentage and top ten percentage, so if he were to win this weekend at the RBC Heritage, and Rahm were to miss the cut, Scottie would move back to the top spot on the 2023 Power Rankings.
Rahm and Scheffler: Season Long Duel
On the other hand, if Rahm were to win this week and have 5 wins by April, he would not only open up a substantial lead on Scheffler, he’d be putting together a mega-season not seen since Tiger was prowling at the height of his powers.
One thing is for sure, watching Rahm and Scheffler each week is starting to feel like Arnie and Jack back in the early 60’s—and it just can’t get any better than that.
Harbour Town Golf Links, SC
RBC Heritage Update
Now that the RBC Heritage has been given the mantel of “Designated Event” by the PGA Tour, with a total purse of $20 million (even higher than The Masters), the field is among the strongest of the year. Nine of the top ten in the 2023 PGA Tour Power Rankings will be competing (and six of the top ten in the World Golf Rankings).
After opening with a 3 under round of 68 on Thursday, Scottie Scheffler charged to within a few shots of the lead at -9 with a 65 on Friday. Jon Rahm, coming down from the high of last week’s dramatic win at Augusta, posted a listless +1 round of 72 on Thursday, needing a solid round on Friday just to make the cut.
Rahm delivered a sizzling 64, rocketing up the leaderboard to finish at -6 and keep Scottie (along with the other leaders) clearly in his sights.
And with Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantley, Xander Schauffele and Victor Hoveland all among the top ten heading into Saturday, this weekend promises to be one heck of a show.
2023 PGA Championship: Oak Hill, Rochester NY (May 18-21)
Scheffler moves to #1 and Tiger Returns at Riviera
Scottie Scheffler defended his title last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, defeating Canadian Nick Taylor by two strokes in the PGA Tour’s first full field event of the season. With this latest victory, Scheffler has moved back into the number one spot on the official World Golf Rankings, and number five in the FedEx Cup standings.
The even bigger news is that Tiger will make his first start of the year at Riviera this week in a star-studded field—and all eyes will be glued to CBS Sports and Golf Channel this weekend to see how close he is to the Tiger of old (and if he’s ready to continue the pursuit of Jack’s major championship record).
Scottie wins at TPC Scottsdale
WM Phoenix Open
Eighteen of the Top twenty players in the World Golf Rankings were in the field last week at TPC Scottsdale, and seven finished in the top 10. In addition to Scottie Scheffler jumping to #1 in the world with his win, Jon Rahm continued his dominant play in ‘22-23 with a 3rd place finish (Rahm has finished in the top 10 in all five of the events he’s played this season, including two wins).
Justin Thomas (No. 7) and Jordan Spieth (No. 16) each recorded their first top 10 of the year, and look like they are gearing up to make a challenge at Augusta (which is not too far away).
Xander Schauffele (No. 6) continued his strong play thus far in the young season with a T10 (Xander has made the cut in all 5 of the events he’s played including 3 top 10’s), and Sungjae Im (No. 18) recorded his 3rd top 10 of the season with a T6.
Rory McIlroy (No. 2) made his first PGA Tour start of the calendar year after a win at the CJ Cup back in October, finishing well back at 4 under par (T32). His win on the DP World Tour at Dubai in January gave him 2 wins in his previous 2 starts, so Rory’s head-to-head match-up with Scottie and the red-hot Jon Rahm was highly anticipated, but some loose driving and an ice-cold putter resulted in a failure to launch—perhaps Tiger’s presence this week in LA will ignite him
Jason Day (5th), Rickie Fowler (T10) and Keagan Bradley (T20) also continued their 2023 resurgence, while a bit of comic relief jumped up on Sunday when a streaker ran onto the 16th green wearing only his underwear and grabbed the flag stick before flopping into the nearby pond (and was quickly escorted away by Security).
The Riviera Country Club: Tiger’s back
Tiger at Riviera
Tiger’s return at Riviera this week will be his first start on the PGA Tour since The Open Championship last summer, where it was apparent that his come-back needed more time as he missed the cut. The general consensus had been that Tiger would only play the major championships this year, starting with the Masters.
The Genesis, however is Tiger’s tournament and his foundation (TGR) has been hosting the event since 2020. Riviera is also a special place for Tiger because its where he made his PGA Tour debut back in 1992 at the age of 16.
Youthful Tiger
Expectations were sky high for the young phenom as an enormous gallery gathered to follow him that day at Riviera, and Tiger got a glimpse of the future when he was swarmed by media after completing a first round 72.
In his pre-tournament press conference, Tiger said he was ready to compete, and would not tee it up if he didn’t think he had a chance to win—although his record “wasn’t very good at Riviera.”
Of course, “not very good” is based on Tiger’s standard for himself. Scheduling conflicts and injury limited him to only twelve starts at Rivieras since he first came out on the Tour in 1996, and although he never notched a win, he finished among the top twenty in ten of those twelve, including four top 10’s (and twice runner-up), while missing the cut only once.
Every other player on tour would be thrilled with that kind of record at a tour event, but Tiger is in a category of his own—and the reason the world will be watching when he tees it up on Thursday.
The Genesis Invitational
The Genesis Invitational
The Genesis Invitational, historically known as the LA Open, has been played at iconic Riviera Country fifty-nine times since the event was first played in 1926, and forty-eight of fifty since 1973.
All of the greats in golf history have teed it up at Riviera, including Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Sam Sneed, Arnie and Byron Nelson.
For year’s Riviera was called “Hogan’s Alley” because he won there three times (’42, ’47 and ’48), and the club has been home to many of the biggest stars in Hollywood (including Humphrey Bogart, who was seen taking in the play from beneath a Sycamore on the 12th hole so often that it became known as “Bogeys Tree”).
Bogeys tree: 12th Hole at Riviera
In addition to Tiger, this year’s field includes nineteen of the top twenty players in the World, and the leaderboard will be jammed with the biggest names in golf as the tournament heads through the weekend to what will no doubt be high drama on Sunday—so make sure you tune in and get ready to hold onto your hats.
The Players: Coming in May
Looking Ahead
The last tournament of February is the famed Honda Classic at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach, Florida (February 23-26). This event will officially kick off the ‘Florida Swing’, where players will be competing in four events in the state of Florida. These include the Arnold Palmer Invitational (March 2-5), The Players Championship (March 9-12), and the Valspar Championship (March 16-19).
