Weekly Recap: Scheffler's Got the No. 1 Spot

Six weeks ago, Scottie Scheffler was the 'Best Player to Have Never Won a Tournament.' Now he's simply the 'Best Player.'

In a meteoric rise never before seen in in golf -- not even from Tiger Woods -- Scheffler elevated to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking by winning the WGC-Match Play tournament on Sunday -- his third title in 42 days.

The big Texan handled Dustin Johnson in the morning semifinals, 3&1, then blitzed match-play master Kevin Kisner, 4&3, in the afternoon final at Austin Country Club. This victory follows Scheffler's wins in the WM Phoenix Open on Feb. 13 and the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 6.

The Phoenix title propelled the then-15th-ranked Scheffler into the top-10 of the world rankings for the first time and No. 9, and now he has supplanted Jon Rahm at the very top. No one had ever become No. 1 so soon after entering the top-10. Of the 25 golfers who have been No. 1 in the OWGR era, which dates to 1986, it took 23 of them of them more than a year to reach the pinnacle, according to noted OWGR expert @VC606 on Twitter. It took the almighty Woods a mere nine weeks. Unfathomably, Scheffler shaved three weeks off of Woods' mark. (For some reason, Bob Beamon's gold-medal-winning performance in the 1968 Olympic long jump comes to mind – Google it, kids.)

At 25 years, 9 months and 6 days, Scheffler is the sixth-youngest No. 1 behind only Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Rahm.

Match play of course is far different from stroke play, but Scheffler proved a year ago that this format also suits him – he narrowly missed his first PGA Tour title back then by falling to Billy Horschel in the 2021 WGC-Match Play finals.

This year, Scheffler was given no favors by being slotted in the toughest of the 16 groups – this year's Group of Death – along with Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and aging but still dangerous Ian Poulter. After a tight 2 and 1 win over Poulter, Scheffler actually lost, 2 and 1, to Fleetwood, before blitzing Fitzpatrick, 5 and 4. But that necessitated a playoff with Fitzpatrick, and the gallant Englishman pushed the playoff to six extra holes before succumbing.

Scheffler then exacted revenge against Horschel and eliminated Seamus Power in the quarterfinals before dispensing of Johnson and Kisner.

Okay, so what has changed for Scheffler of late? We all knew a win was coming. But three straightaway? And becoming No. 1 in about a month? Of course, it was evident from his entry onto the Tour in 2019 – he tied for seventh at the Greenbrier in his first tournament as a tour member -- that Scheffler was going to be a very good player. Great ball striker, long and accurate driver, quiet but tenacious demeanor on the course. His big issue was putting. He ranked outside the top-100 in Strokes Gained: Putting his first two seasons on Tour. Now? He's ranked 15th. When someone who does everything but one thing at a world-class level and then masters that one thing, well, that's trouble for everyone else. In fact, Scheffler is not as good off the tee as he was in prior years. But his short game is what's carried him to the next level.

To wit: On No. 12 in the finals, Scheffler uncharacteristically flubbed a chip from the fringe into a greenside bunker, opening the door for Kisner to get back in the match.  But Scheffler then holed out from the sand to halve the hole, a deflating and all but fatal dagger into Kisner.

The next obvious question is: What will Scheffler do at the Masters? He's played in two, tying for 19th in the 2020 tournament in November and coming back five months later with an almost identical T18. In four other majors of the past two years, he's finished in the top-8 every time. Remarkable.

Putting at Augusta is unlike putting anywhere else, of course. But at this point, dismissing Scheffler at the Masters is a fool's play. One other key element in Scheffler's rise was a recent caddie change. He hooked up with the veteran bagman Ted Scott beginning at the RSM Classic last fall. Scheffler has won three times in their nine events together. Scott famously caddied for Bubba Watson for 15 years, including when Watson won his two Masters in 2012 and 2014.
  
As if Scheffler needed any more ammunition heading into Augusta.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Kevin Kisner
Kisner's group was not as tough on paper as Scheffler's but with Justin Thomas, Marc Leishman and Luke List it was the next best (worst?) thing. Still, he rolled through Thomas and the others, then eliminated Adam Scott by winning the final four holes when he was 3-down. That is some serious match-playing. Kisner is well known as a Match Play guru – he won two years ago, was runner-up the year before – but just ran into an unstoppable machine in Scheffler. His stroke-play record has ups and downs, relying on a few good weeks every year. One of them came recently at THE PLAYERS, where he finished fourth. Kisner is now up to 27th in the world, and not too long ago he was in danger of falling from the top-50.

Corey Conners
If there was one surprise semifinalist, it was Conners. He's not a good putter, had not been playing especially well in 2022 and finished 61st out of 64 in his lone previous Match Play a year ago. But he won his group and two elimination matches before encountering Kisner in the semifinals. Conners then defeated Dustin Johnson in the third-place match. He'll be in the field at this week's Valero Texas Open but more importantly, he's finished top-10 in the past two Masters.

Dustin Johnson
Johnson defeated Brooks Koepka in the quarterfinals before Scheffler took him down. He's usually been a very good match-play player, and he continued to show signs of returning to form after more than a year of subpar play. With a loss to Corey Conners in the third-place match, it technically counts as a top-5, Johnson's first since winning the 2020 Masters. After a one-week blip, he's back in the top-10 and, suddenly, his fortunes for Augusta seem a little brighter.

Bryson DeChambeau
Getting through the Match Play tournament healthy has to be considered a win for DeChambeau, even though he finished last (0-2-1) in his group with Richard Bland, Lee Westwood and Talor Gooch. He had been idle for two months with hand and hip injuries. We'll see how DeChambeau does in this week's Valero Texas Open before heading off to the Masters.

Richard Bland
The 49-year-old Englishman gave new meaning to the term "late bloomer." He didn't win a DP World Tour title until last year. He had played in only three majors before last year. At the Match Play – his first WGC – he was vying to win the title but also to qualify for his first Masters. He remarkably won his group, then needed to win one more match to break into the top-50 OWGR. But his dream ended against Dustin Johnson, leaving him at No. 53. Bland would've been quite a story at Augusta. There is one slight, slight opening, however: Bland was granted a sponsor invite into this week's Valero Texas Open, so he does have one final chance to get to the Masters -- but he needs to win the tournament.

Jon Rahm
Not winning since last June's U.S. Open finally caught up with Rahm, costing him his No. 1 ranking at least for one week. He played okay at the Match Play, winning his group before being eliminated by Brooks Koepka in the Round of 16. Rahm will still be the betting favorite at Augusta, as he should be.

Collin Morikawa
Morikawa's run-up to the Masters has not been encouraging. He missed the cut at THE PLAYERS and finished far back at the Valspar before getting his doors blown off by Abraham Ancer, 7 and 6, in the Round of 16 at the Match Play. Yes, Morikawa won his group, but he blew a lead against Sergio Garcia in a match that was halved and also stumbled late against Jason Kokrak before hanging on.

Seamus Power
Power was pretty much assured of staying in the top-50 in the world rankings to qualify for the Masters no matter what happened in this tournament. But winning his group, then eliminating tough-out Tyrrell Hatton cinched it. Power is firmly entrenched at No. 41 OWGR, a standing virtually unthinkable a year ago.

Justin Thomas
Thomas lost to Luke List and then got waxed 4-and-3 by Kevin Kisner and couldn't make it out of group play. It's hard to say that someone with four top-8 finishes already in 2022, including third at the Valspar the week before the Match Play, is not on his game. But something just seems a little off for Thomas, who's now winless for more than a year.

Xander Schauffele
Schauffele was eliminated in round-robin play, going 1-2 in a very weak group with Tony Finau, Lucas Herbert and Takumi Kanaya, who took the group. Schauffele has now fallen to 10th in the world and, barring a quick reversal, will soon tumble out. He hasn't been playing up to his usual standards and, of course, hasn't won in years. He has been great the Masters, however, with two top-3 showings in the past three years.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth's subpar 2022 continued when he couldn't get past Adam Scott and was eliminated in the round-robin phase. Outside of a runner-up at the Farmers, Spieth does not have so much as a top-20 in six other starts this year. Not a good sign with the Masters right around the corner, but Spieth gets one final tuneup as the defending champion of the Valero Texas Open.

Ian Poulter
Poulter has long been a match-play warrior but he's now 46 years old and got stuck in the toughest of the 16 groups, which included Scottie Scheffler. He needed to advance from group play and then some to qualify for the Masters, but it didn't happen. Poulter had missed only one Masters in the past 15 years but unless he wins the Valero Texas Open this week, he won't be going to Augusta. There's a good chance that last year's Masters was Poulter's last.

Cameron Tringale
Tringale just missed qualifying for the Masters at the end of 2021. He was ranked 51st, just outside the cutoff. He was again 51st coming into the Match Play and needed to win his group to climb into the top-50 and qualify for Augusta. But he was eliminated and it just accentuates how sometimes in golf the line is so fine.

O-fer Club

Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Russell Henley, Erik van Rooyen and Matthew Wolff were the only golfers in the 64-man Match Play field to not secure even a half point in group play.