Golf rankings: Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young inch closer to Scottie Scheffler in Power 18

1 Scheffler has lost to two players in regulation in his last three tournaments, taking home zero trophies. Running into buzzsaws in the form of McIlroy, Fitzpatrick and Young, the world No. 1 is taking punches from those immediately below him in the rankings, but he remains the mainstay in those bouts. After his ball striking took a dip in early March, Scheffler looked much more like Scheffler in April. The wins will follow. His three runner-up results in a row are something that has not been seen on the PGA Tour since Sergio Garcia accomplished the feat in 2014. Previous: 1 2 Everyone knew McIlroy was going to have a more intentional schedule moving forward, but the Masters champion has completed just four tournaments so far this season. This includes the successful defense at Augusta National and a close call at Riviera as he ramps up his playing calendar heading into the summer. He makes his return at Quail Hollow, where he has won four times and experienced an odd PGA Championship in 2025. Previous: 2 3 In his last 15 worldwide starts, Young has 10 top-10 finishes, seven top-five results and three wins, the latest in dominating fashion at the Cadillac Championship. The putting is vastly improved, but the strides the winner of The Players Championship has made in his mental game cannot go overlooked. There is a patience and an acceptance about himself that was not there a couple of years ago, and oh yeah, a complete game, too. Previous: 16 4 He seemingly improves by the week. Fitzpatrick leads the PGA Tour with three wins this season, the last of which came alongside his brother, Alex. Fitzpatrick’s iron play has risen to new heights thanks to a more upright swing path as his name rises on the leaderboard at every big tournament. He is the most well-rounded player from tee to green, and the putting is beginning to cooperate after a cool West Coast Swing. Previous: 12 5 Schauffele has seven straight top-25 finishes, the last four of which have doubled as top-15 efforts. He continues to find a home on the first and second pages of the leaderboard, but he is falling back into some bad habits, such as making backdoor efforts a common occurrence. He is striking the ball almost as well as he did in 2024, but he will need his short game to take a step in the right direction if he is to mimic those results from two years ago. Previous: 8 6 It’s a big plunge down the board for just one bad start, but Rahm needs to show it in a full field with the best players in the world. The Spaniard cleans up on LIV Golf every time they decide to hold a tournament, as he won in Mexico following a disappointing Masters where he was busy battling the cutline and not McIlroy and Scheffler. It will be interesting to see how he plays with LIV Golf’s future up in the air. Previous: 4 7 Sunday struggles have put a damper on an otherwise impressively consistent season for Åberg. The young Swede has four top-five finishes in his last five tournaments with a couple of those featuring him as the frontrunner going into the final round to no success. Åberg’s short game is in a much tidier spot than in years past, and should theoretically raise the floor of his performances in big tournaments. Previous: Not ranked 8 He could have maybe been higher, but the health remains a question mark for the two-time major champion. Pulling out of The Players with a back injury, Morikawa has not looked the same since, although the results have been admirable. He finished inside the top 10 at both the Masters and RBC Heritage, but he showed last week that something may still be up health-wise, as he finished outside the top 60. Previous: 11 9 Speaking of health, the last time DeChambeau was on a golf course, he was complaining about the conditions and ultimately his wrist. He missed the final round at LIV Golf Mexico City the week after he missed the cut at the Masters, where expectations were sky high. The two-time U.S. Open champion has a couple of wins on LIV Golf’s friendlier layouts, but the driver can only take him so far. Previous: 5 10 It has been a quiet month for Fleetwood, who has been without a top-20 finish since the beginning of April. Fleetwood has taken a step back in all aspects of the game during this time, but don’t be surprised if he starts to round the corner in short order. The reigning FedEx Cup champion is experiencing his worst iron season in five years, so once that bounces back, so will he. Previous: 3 11 Speaking of iron play, Rose decided to ditch his gamer irons and go with McLaren for a new set. Early returns were not positive last week as he finished near the bottom of the leaderboard in Doral, Florida. This volatility is the new norm for Rose, though, as he has five finishes outside the top 30 and three finishes inside the top 15. The good news is those results came at the Farmers Insurance Open (win), Players Championship (T13) and Masters (T3). Previous: 9 12 Similar to McIlroy, Reed is not playing a whole lot of golf at the moment. After winning two times across the first two months on the DP World Tour, he has played in one tournament since the first week of March. That was, of course, the Masters, where he was in contention heading into the weekend before trailing off for a T12 result. Curious how the lack of competitive reps will affect his sharpness down the line. Previous: 10 13 There is a world where Henley is your 2026 Masters champion. You may not like it, you may not want to believe it, but the 37-year-old was a few revolutions away from slipping on the green jacket. The way he struck the ball at Augusta National was flat-out impressive, continuing a run this season where he has not tapered off despite his lack of length compared to the big dogs. Firm and fast layouts continue to be his calling card. Previous: 18 14 One of three multiple-time winners on the PGA Tour this season, Gotterup’s game has leveled out since his hot start. His iron play has been good, not great, and thus the results have been, too, with a T24 in his Masters debut and T25 at the RBC Heritage. There is some short-game stuff that may be holding him back, but once his approach play sharpens, it will take care of plenty. Previous: 6 15 The best player on the PGA Tour without a win this season may well be Kim. He has five top-six finishes, including two in his last two starts at Harbour Town Golf Links and Trump National Doral. The aggression he plays with from tee to green seems to abandon him on the greens in the final rounds, where he has been in the final group three times already this year. Once he holes putts more consistently under the gun, he will return to the winner’s circle. Previous: 14 16 It has been a little forgettable since his playoff loss at the WM Phoenix Open, but the bones of Matsuyama’s game remain in good shape. The iron play is as strong as ever, the short game is always reliable, and he is actually making some putts this year. Like in Scottsdale, Arizona, Matsuyama’s driver is handcuffing him. Once he figures it out, he will start contending more regularly and do better than his T12 at the Masters. Previous: 7 17 Another injury concern (how many is that in this list?) with Knapp. He pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to his back and just withdrew from the Cadillac Championship due to his wrist. In between the bandages, he has played the best golf of his career with seven top-11 finishes already to his name in 2026. Outside of a brutal performance at Harbour Town, Knapp’s putting has been lights out. Previous: 13 18 The Masters seemed to halt much of the momentum for both MacIntyre and those who root for him. It was a disappointing week in more than one way, but the left-hander returns to competition at Quail Hollow, where he will look to summon his pre-Masters form. MacIntyre finished runner-up at the Texas Open and inside the top five at the Players Championship. He gained strokes on approach in both of those tournaments. In the four prior and two after, he bled to the field in that category. Previous: 17