Scottie Scheffler earned 727 world ranking points with his nine victories this year, only the fifth time that has happened since the world ranking began in 1986. Vijay Singh did it in 2004, and Tiger Woods did it three times.
Scheffler also becomes the first player since Woods in 2009 to start and finish the year at No. 1 in the world. This week was his 82nd consecutive week, moving him past Nick Faldo (81 weeks from July 1992 to Feb. 1994) into fourth place on the all-time list. His next target is Greg Norman (96 weeks), which he could reach in the middle of March. Tiger Woods holds the No. 2 spot (264 consecutive weeks from Aug. 1999 to Sept. 2004) and the No. 1 spot (281 weeks from June 2005 to Oct. 2010).
Scheffler has been No. 1 a total of 116 weeks. Rory McIlroy was No. 1 for 122 weeks, and Dustin Johnson was at the top of ranking for 135 weeks.
The record is Woods at 683 weeks. That’s out there, and Scheffler is well aware. He talked about Woods at No. 1 after he won The Players Championship in March.
“I’m not going to remember the exact numbers, but like we’re playing at Riv this year, and I hit my tee ball and this guy yells out: ‘Congrats on being No. 1, Scottie! Eleven more years to go,” Scheffler said. “Eleven more years to go.”
