Scottie Scheffler sees off Rory McIlroy – but mind-blowing stats show how far he is off Tiger Woods
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He’s been the dominant force in the game for two years and it’s drawn comparisons to Tiger Woods – but just how far away is Scottie Scheffler? Let’s crunch
Sometimes it’s hard to get your head around just how good Tiger Woods was – and Scottie Scheffler’s latest achievement really puts it into perspective.
The 28-year-old is currently top of the OWGR rankings, having returned to World No.1 for a fourth time in May 2023 after a back-and-forth with fellow Masters champion Jon Rahm.
That was 88 weeks ago, which means the American has now celebrated a 123rd week as the world’s best golfer.
The 25th player to achieve the feat since the OWGR was founded, Scheffler topped the rankings between March and October 2022, then for one week in February 2023, a further four in March and April of the same year, and then this latest stint which, incidentally, meant 2024 was the first calendar year the honor didn’t change hands since 2009.
So what’s the news? Well, it takes Scheffler into fourth place on the all-time list and, for the first time, above Rory McIlroy, who has so far spent 122 weeks as the World No.1 between March 2012 and February 2023.
Scheffler won’t have to wait long to move above Dustin Johnson, who is in third on 135 weeks. It’s mathematically impossible for Scheffler to be caught any time soon so that will, incidentally, happen the week following the conclusion of his Masters defence in April.
Then it’s Greg Norman next in his sights.
After seeing off DJ, Scheffler will be a huge-but-attainable 195 weeks – almost four years – behind the Shark. But it’s when we start crunching the numbers on Woods’ time at the top where it gets really jaw-dropping.
Woods first went to No.1 in June 1997 – a year in which Norman, Tom Lehman, and Ernie Els also held the accolade – before going on to spend a superlative-defying 683 weeks at the top over 11 separate spells spanning 17 years.
Put your calculator away, we’ve done it for you: 683 weeks is a little more than 13 years. That means Woods has been the golf’s World No.1 for 35 per cent of the OWGR era.
And just in case you need this to be even more ludicrous, Scheffler would have to stay atop the rankings for more than another decade to catch the GOAT.
October 2035, to be precise. When Scheffler will be almost 40. And Tiger almost 60.
Imagine how many times we’ll discuss Woods’ impending retirement in that decade…
Most Weeks as World No.1 Golfer
- Tiger Woods – 683 weeks
- Greg Norman – 331 weeks
- Dustin Johnson – 135 weeks
- Scottie Scheffler – 123 weeks
- Rory McIlroy – 122 weeks
- Nick Faldo – 97 weeks
- Seve Ballesteros – 61 weeks
- Luke Donald – 56 weeks
- Jon Rahm – 52 weeks
- Jason Day – 51 weeks
- Ian Woosnam – 50 weeks
- Brooks Koepka – 47 weeks
- Nick Price – 44 weeks
- Vijay Singh – 32 weeks
- Jordan Spieth 26 weeks
- Lee Westwood – 22 weeks
- Fred Couples – 16 weeks
- David Duval – 15 weeks
- Justin Rose – 13 weeks
- Adam Scott – 11 weeks
- Ernie Els – 9 weeks
- Martin Kaymer – 8 weeks
- Justin Thomas – 5 weeks
- Bernhard Langer – 3 weeks
- Tom Lehman – 1 week
(All stats correct at the time of writing.)
About the author
Alex has been in the golf industry since 2007 and has helped shape a number of publications in that time. He joined Today’s Golfer in January 2025 to lead the brand’s news division.
He is a keen golfer who claims to play off 12 and enjoys traveling the world to try new courses. His three favorites are Royal North Devon, the Old Course at St Andrews, and Royal Portrush – with special mentions for Okehampton and Bude & North Cornwall, where he first fell in love with the game.
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How long will it take Scottie Scheffler to catch Tiger Woods as World No.1?
