LOS ANGELES—Getting to No. 1 in the world is difficult enough. Staying there for an entire year is even tougher.
Except for Tiger Woods.
Scottie Scheffler won the WM Phoenix Open on Sunday to replace Rory McIlroy at No. 1 in the world, keeping alive a remarkable trend. Not since Woods in 2009 has a player started the year at No. 1 and stayed on top all the way through the end of December.
Woods also did that in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Before that, he was No. 1 for all of 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
The only others to be No. 1 for an entire calendar year since the ranking began in 1986 were Nick Faldo (1993) and Greg Norman (1996).
That speaks to either the utter dominance of Woods (probably) or the increasing depth of top talent (possibly).
Dustin Johnson stayed at No. 1 for 64 weeks from February 2017 until May 2018. That’s the longest stretch by anyone since Woods (281 weeks).
Scheffler, McIlroy and Jon Rahm each have a chance to reach No. 1 at Riviera this week.
The way golf is going, it’s more likely to see a year like 2020 when five players reached No. 1 at some point during the year.
TWICE AS NICE
STACEY LEWIS will return as Solheim Cup captain in 2024 while still waiting to make her debut in the role in September.
Lewis is the US captain for the matches in Spain this September. The Solheim Cup is returning to being played in even-numbered years once the Ryder Cup moved back to odd-numbered years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Receiving the first call was one of the highest points of my career, and I am truly grateful to add this second opportunity,” Lewis said. “To have the chance to lead our country’s best players twice, and especially in 2024 outside our nation’s capital, is a true privilege.”
The 2024 matches will be at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.
Lewis will be the fifth American to be captain at least twice in the Solheim Cup. Juli Inkster was captain three times.
SCOTT’S ELECTION
THE Professional Golfers Association Tour went more than 50 years without having an international player on its policy board, and now it will have two in the span of three years.
Adam Scott has been elected chairman of the 16-member Player Advisory Council, which advises the player directors on various PGA Tour issues. As chairman, the Australian will take a seat on the board for a three-year term that starts in 2024.
Scott’s election comes two years after Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland became the first international player to be elected PAC chairman. McIlroy now is on the board.
Scott has spent nearly two decades on the PGA Tour without ever having interest in being a PAC member, which is not to suggest he didn’t have his share of opinions. Only a year ago, he spoke openly about the appeal of LIV Golf.
But while he was looked upon as a prime candidate, Scott never pursued it. He said at the Sony Open he wanted to join the PAC because of changes ahead for the PGA Tour, not anything to do with LIV.
“I’m more interested in what the tour is planning on doing with the tour, not how we’re fighting a lawsuit, because I couldn’t care less about that,” Scott said in Hawaii. “I’m more interested in what the future of the tour looks like.”
Image credits: AP