Scottie Scheffler has been at number one in the golf world rankings since the 21st of May 2023, a period of well over three years. Only Tiger Woods has ever enjoyed a longer unbroken stint as the game’s world number one. Woods actually did it twice, staying at the top for 264 weeks and also, separately, 281.
Scheffler has some way to go before he will usurp the legendary 15-time major champion, but such is his large lead at the summit of the official rankings, he is set to stay there for some time no matter what happens in the weeks and months ahead.
Despite maintaining a huge lead, many have questioned both the world number one’s desire and his game. The definition of insanity is supposed to be doing the same thing and expecting different results, but we might also say it is doubting a player who is so clearly the very best on the planet.
Children, Priorities and Winless Streak
A Scheffler family tradition 🏆 pic.twitter.com/30tWP7aI37
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 17, 2025
Scheffler had his first child in 2024 and had another son in 2026 and it is not uncommon for becoming a parent to affect a player’s ability to compete at the very top. In between the birth of his two sons, in July 2025, the American caused a minor uproar when he explained that golf did not provide him with deep fulfilment, that he would quit the game if it had a negative impact on his family life and that his main priorities were “faith and my family. Those come first for me. Golf is third in that order.”
Amidst that backdrop, the naysayers were quick to wonder if his time at the top may be coming to an end. 2026 has not gone the way he might have wanted, and it will be his first season without a major championship since 2023. Last year he won two and finished in the top seven at the other two. Moreover, heading into the first FedEx Cup play-off tournament, the St Jude Championship, Scheffler had not won since January.
In truth, it is a sign of just how good the American has been that people were highlighting his “poor” form. He was second at the Masters, tied for fourth at both the US Open and Open Championship and finished T14 at the US PGA Championship. What’s more, since winning the American Express to claim his 20th PGA Tour title on the 25th of January, he boasted a series of excellent performances. In fact, his 2026 record before claiming glory at the St Jude was one win, five second-place finishes, two thirds, and three further top 10s, from 17 events played.
If such a set of results is the sign of a serious decline, heaven help everyone else on the tour! Clearly the issue was that he hadn’t quite been able to get over the line despite so often being in contention. However, he put that right at the start of the FedEx Cup series, leaving Rory McIlroy to declare that everyone else might just be “effed”!
All Too Easy at TPC Southwind
Scottie Scheffler ran wild at TPC Southwind en route to his 21st PGA Tour victory. 😮💨
Read more: https://t.co/5BeE1yFg5Z pic.twitter.com/imv9K7u8kx
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) August 17, 2026
After almost seven months without a win, Scheffler put things right in fine style at Memphis venue TPC Southwind. McIlroy himself was most certainly “effed”, finishing 25 shots adrift of the man one place above him in the world rankings. Mind you, the world number two was not alone in being left behind by Scheffler.
The eventual winner was third at this tournament in 2025 but this time around asserted his dominance in the second round, shooting a score of 61. That nine-under effort left him at minus 11 after two rounds, three clear of the field after 36 holes. He began with five straight birdies on his way to equalling the course record.
At the weekend, rounds of 68 and then a closing 66 saw him stretch his lead further and further. When all was said and done, the four-time major winner was eight shots ahead of Si Woo Kim in second. Scheffler’s 263 aggregate and huge margin of victory showed he was back to his best once again, even if he has actually been playing great golf for almost the entire year anyway.
Putting the Key
As is the case for many of the top players, it is putting that makes the biggest difference to outcome for Scheffler. It has long been said that when he putts badly he competes, when he does ok, he wins, and when he putts well, he blows the field away.
After the St Jude Rory was asked if he was in contention for Player of the Year and he said “no, no chance … Scottie is (Player of the Year)”. He added that having played the first two rounds with his rival at the St Jude, he felt that if Scottie stayed at that level and “gains nine strokes on the greens every week, we’re all effed”. That seems a pretty accurate assessment to us, and even if his putter isn’t hot, Tiger’s records for consecutive weeks as world number one could well be in trouble in the years ahead.