Only three men occupied the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings in 2022. Switching between a few stars, Rory McIlroy is the player currently holding the position as he regained the title for the ninth time in his career with a victory at The CJ Cup in South Carolina in October. Having relinquished it before, and with the OWGR taking on a relatively new shape, will the Northern Irishman be able to hold on to the pole position for the entirety of 2023, or will someone else usurp him?

This prior year began with Jon Rahm atop the golf world. Beginning his 2022 in impressive fashion, Rahm finished runner-up at the Tournament of Champions and added another podium finish a few weeks later at the Farmers Insurance Open. Tacking on a top-10 result at the WM Phoenix Open, it was that very event which kickstarted Scottie Scheffler’s march to the top.

Beating Patrick Cantlay in a playoff in Phoenix, Scheffler went on to experience a historic run in the spring that included a victory two weeks later at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Making his way through the WGC Match Play, the Texan officially claimed the world No. 1 with his victory in his collegiate backyard of Austin, Texas. 

Adding some breathing room between him and the rest of professional golf, Scheffler notched his first career major championship at The Masters. Four wins in a six-week stretch cemented him as the best player in the world. His status would hold steady with runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open and the Charles Schwab Challenge but began to show cracks in the latter stages of the summer. Unable to convert his 54-hole lead at the Tour Championship into the FedEx Cup crown, Scheffler slowly saw an object grow larger in his rearview mirror. That object? Rory McIlroy. 

His win at East Lake accompanied another at the Canadian Open as well as four top-10 finishes at the major championships. With his victory this past fall in South Carolina, McIlroy completed his trek to the top but nearly gave it up during the winter months. Had Scheffler won the Hero World Challenge, where he ultimately finished second, he would have momentarily regained what he had lost.

With such fluidity in the rankings, 2023 has the potential to see numerous players make meaningful runs towards world No. 1. Previous holders like Scheffler and Rahm pose significant threats to McIlroy, as do Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Will those closest to McIlroy chase him down or will an outsider similar to Scheffler in 2022 make his mark?

Best potential paths to world No. 1

1. Patrick Cantlay (Current rank: 4)

He reached as high as world No. 3 multiple times throughout 2022 but was never able to crack inside the top two. Cantlay is consistently among the best players in the world, and it may be a change to the PGA Tour schedule which ultimately propels him to new heights. Looking at the OWGR website, there is only one player inside the top 50 (non-LIV division) who has less than 40 official events contributing to their ranking, and that player is Cantlay.

With all the top players likely to play in 13 elevated events, four major championships and a handful of other tournaments, Cantlay’s typical schedule of roughly 20 tournaments a season may become the new norm. If so, it will only aid him as his game remains as sturdy as ever. Posting +2.08 strokes gained per round the last two years, some variance went against him in 2022 as he lost in playoffs at the WM Phoenix Open and RBC Heritage and collected runner-up finishes at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and Shriners Children’s Open. Cantlay is good enough to post a four-win season, and it wouldn’t surprise me if does just that in 2023.

2. Jon Rahm (5)

Beginning this past year as world No. 1, Rahm did all the right things early on, and it looked as if a repeat of his 2021 was on the horizon. Plans were halted when he relinquished his No. 1 ranking at the WGC Match Play, and things went from bad to worse when he dropped out of the top five in the world for the first time in three years. 

Rahm bounced back with three wins in his last 14 worldwide starts of 2022, and while he is technically trending in the wrong direction from a strokes-gained perspective (+2.41 SG per round in 2019, +2.40 in 2020, +2.37 in 2021 and +2.20 in 2022), this year presents a prime bounce back spot. The Spaniard is still the best driver of the golf ball in the world, and over his last five measured tournaments he averaged +1.45 strokes gained putting per round. Unsustainable? Yes. But also potentially a sign of things to come.

3. Scottie Scheffler (2)

Well, he’s the closest to McIlroy to begin 2023 and nearly leapfrogged him had it not been for Viktor Hovland at the Hero World Challenge. Regardless, Scheffler’s downturn in quality after his red-hot spring was primarily a result of his short game. With his putter letting him down more times than not, the 26-year-old was still able to contend on a regular basis, thus displaying just how strong the rest of his game remains.

In his 16 starts since slipping on the green jacket at Augusta National, Scheffler has finished on the podium six times including runner-up finishes at the Charles Schwab Challenge, U.S. Open, Tour Championship and Hero World Challenge. During this stretch, Scheffler averaged -0.35 strokes gained putting per round, and while golf is hardly simple, a return to form on the greens in early 2023 may mean a return to world No. 1.

4. Xander Schauffele (6)

The way in which Schauffele’s peers gush about him and his game should hold weight and in 2022, he finally showcased what they have been preaching about for years. After squandering a 54-hole lead at the WM Phoenix Open for the second consecutive year, Schauffele hit a lull with the low point coming in the form of a rare missed cut at The Masters. 

Since the hiccup at Augusta National, Schauffele has rattled off three wins, four top fives and five additional top-20 finishes in his last 13 tournaments. This is the consistency we should expect to see from the 29-year-old — the consistency which allowed him to post greater than +2.10 strokes gained per round in 13 of his 22 starts in 2022. With consistency comes contention, and if the monkey is truly off his back, the opportunity to reach world No. 1 will come for Schauffele.

5. Justin Thomas (8)

Ask yourself this: Is there a player who, when on, can get it quite like JT? The answer is no. The 15-time winner on the PGA Tour hasn’t racked up wins in bunches the last two seasons, but expect that to change in 2023. His last two victories are the 2021 Players Championship and the 2022 PGA Championship, and while impressive, even Thomas understands that given his caliber, two wins a season should be the bare minimum.

Thomas’ three best strokes gained season were 2020 (+2.27 SG per round; 3 wins), 2018 (+2.27 SG per round; 3 wins) and 2017 (+2.22 SG per round; 5 wins). In 2022, Thomas eeked his way closer to the +2.20 range and posted +2.02 strokes gained per round thanks in part to a solid putting campaign. His typically strong iron play lagged ever so slightly, and should it return to historical levels, Thomas could reign atop the world for the third time in his career.

6. Tony Finau (12)

You know who the 12th-ranked player in the world was at the end of 2021? Scottie Scheffler. It is certainly within the realm of possibilities that Finau could match such a breakout, especially with the manner in which he culminated his 2022. Winning three times in his last seven starts, Finau’s quality shined through after a rough start to his season that included zero top-10 finishes in his first 10 events.

He is the eldest name on this list at the age of 33, but age is just a number; let us not forget that Phil Mickelson didn’t win his first major championship until the age of 34. His rolling strokes gained averages show the potential for him to roll to the world No. 1. Over the last 12 months, he ranks 10th in total strokes gained, fourth the last six months and fourth again over the last three months with only McIlroy, Cantlay and Rahm ahead of him.

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At LIV Jeddah event last week, Phil Mickelson carried on about his belief that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf are trending in opposite directions. The Tour, he said, is on a downward spiral, while LIV is the future. It’s an opinion, of course, and one that is pretty easy to objectively disprove. But when has that ever stopped Mickelson?

Lefty is incentivized to prop up LIV Golf because the more the upstart league thrives, the better it his for his future finances. However, all the strong-arming in the world cannot make half-truths (at best) the full truth, and a couple of PGA Tour superstars popped back at him this week in the press conferences leading up to the CJ Cup in South Carolina.

“Man, I love Phil, but I don’t know what he’s talking about,” said Jon Rahm, who has been close to Mickelson for a long time. “I really don’t know why he said that. There’s been some changes being made, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going down, right? I truly don’t know why he said that. Don’t know. I really, I really don’t know. I think there’s some great changes being made and great changes for the players on the Tour. I truly don’t know what drove him to say something like that.”

The changes Rahm is referencing are underway. The Tour’s top players have all agreed to play in the same PGA Tour tournaments in the future, and that’s going to start in a big way in 2023 with 17 tournaments (including the four major championships) in which every big-time player that hasn’t already defected to LIV will tee it up.

“I’ve spoke about this at length, and I think the people that have decided to stay here and play these tournaments, they or we haven’t done anything differently than what we’ve always done, right?” said Rory McIlroy on Wednesday. “We’re playing these events, we’re PGA Tour members, we’re sticking to the system that has traditionally been there. The guys that have went over to LIV, they’re the ones that have made the disruption, they’re the ones that have sort of put the golf world in flux right now.

“I guess for them to be talking the way they are, it’s bold and … I think there’s a ton of propaganda being used and all sorts of stuff. I certainly don’t see the PGA Tour trending downward at all. All the talent, most, 95% of the talent is here. You’ve got people like Tom Kim coming through who that’s the future of our game.

“I don’t agree with what Phil said last week. I understand why he said it because of the position he is in, but I don’t think anyone that takes a logical view of the game of golf can agree with what he said.”

McIlroy is literally correct in that 95% of the talent is on the PGA Tour. Currently, 19 of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Rankings play on the PGA Tour. To be fair to LIV, it currently does not receive OWGR points for its events, and Abraham Ancer, Joaquin Niemann and Dustin Johnson are just outside that top 20, but it’s not certain that they would be inside the top 20 if they were all still on the PGA Tour.

Regardless, McIlroy is correct. Logic and reason — not to mention data — show that Mickelson is incorrect about his assertion at the moment. That could change, of course, but the current gulf between LIV and the PGA Tour is a lot wider than Lefty has insinuated.

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Italy’s Guido Migliozzi won the French Open by a single shot after making a stunning birdie at the final hole courtesy of a majestic high-risk approach to the the 18th green at Le Golf National in Paris.

The 25-year-old was in supreme form all day the 2018 Ryder Cup venue, making nine birdies  – including a run of five in succession from the sixth – without a single dropped shot. He saved the best until last when, tied for the lead and staring down an 18th hole, Migliozzi cut a courageous faded five-iron into the famous final green which came within inches of finding the cup for an incredible eagle two. He knocked in the five-foot putt for the first of only two birdies at the final hole all day, equalling the course record of 62 for a 16 under total.

Rasmus Højgaard, who had led the tournament after each of the opening three rounds – and was six shots clear after 36 holes – finished a shot back on 15 under par after a three-under 68, while Paul Barjon finished the highest Frenchman as he shared third place with Thomas Pieters and George Coetzee on 11 under.

Migliozzi, whose previous to Tour wins came in 2019, said:  “It’s been a long, long road to get here from those wins three years ago. I played very solid last year and went very close to a win, so I came into this season with lots of high expectations. But it has been tough and I’ve not be playing great. Then I started to practice in another way, I’ve worked really hard, and here I am now holding a trophy. The second shot at 18 was incredible. My caddie was not happy, as it was not the safe play, but I felt that it was worth a try and luckily for me, it paid off.”

He added: “My main goal for the next year is to qualify for the Ryder Cup in Rome. To present Europe in my home country would be a dream, so we’ll keep pushing on.”

Højgaard, whose big 36-hole lead was wiped out by a costly quintuple bogey on the par-three second hole on Saturday, said: “Obviously there’s a lot of good stuff out there. it was a few silly mistakes over the last two days that cost me the win this week, but I’m happy with where my golf is heading towards. I’m striking the ball well and I’m putting nice. I just have to take the positives from this week. It obviously stings a little bit at the moment, but later tonight I’ll be looking back and I’ve got a lot to be proud of, especially after what happened yesterday.”

For the final leaderboard, click here. 

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Moor Hall trio Daniel Bardsley, Rob Bardsley and John Paul Banbury came storming back to win the English Champion Club at the weekend and have now targeted similar success when they face Europe’s best next month.

The Warwickshire representatives began the second round of the 36-hole event at Lilley Brook Golf Club on Sunday a shot behind the team from Henbury GC, who had hoped to win on home soil after making the finals from the Gloucestershire round of qualifying.

However, Moor Hall proved unstoppable in the final charge for the line with all three players shooting par or better to seal the victory ahead of 30 of their rivals.

In the end, the Moor Hall men ended with a combined three-man team score over 36 holes of 411 (-3). That tally allowed them to win the event by six shots from a Henbury side featuring Nick Day, Michael Day and Calum Mortimore.

Hexham and Yorkshire qualifiers Hallowes ended the event tied on a total of +12 with the Northumberland side edging third spot on countback. A total of 31 clubs took part.

On top of the title as English Champion Club, the Moor Hall team will now get the chance to fly the flag for England at the European Men’s Club Trophy, which will be held next month at Troia Golf Club on Portugal’s Algarve coast.

Speaking after the win, Banbury said: “We’ve all been friends for over 20 years through the juniors and onto the county scene and it’s great to win this as a team. We’ve all got similar games and are generally pretty solid. The idea was to make sure we were still in contention after round one and then to push a bit more in the second round. It helped that we were all playing with the guys from Henbury so that we could work out what they were doing. There was also a point around the turn where we could speak to each other and work out the state of play.”

Moor Hall’s opening day score of level par was highly commendable but they had their work cut out to try and pip Henbury. However, with Banbury firing a three-under par round of 66 featuring five birdies and just two dropped shots the deficit was soon overturned.

Daniel Bardsley’s consistency was also key – two level par rounds of 69 providing a solid base for the team. Rob Bardsley went one shot better to record rounds of 69 and 68.

Now the Warwickshire trio has their eye on more glory in Portugal. “Fingers crossed if we play as we did in this event then I think we have a decent chance in Portugal,” added Banbury. “We all can’t wait to play out there. I’ve checked out the venue online and while there’s a bit of planning and some re-arranging of holidays that need to be done first, we’re looking forward to competing.”

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The United States recorded back-to-back PGA Cup victories over the Great Britain & Ireland following a pulsating clash between the two nations at Foxhills Club & Resort in Surrey.

Led by PGA of America Honorary President Suzy Whaley, the United States overcame a brave fightback from David Russell’s GB & I team to capture the Llandudno International Trophy and claim their first away win since 2009.

Russell’s side knew they had it all to do heading into the Sunday singles. A weekend full of twists and turns saw them trailing by three points – 9.5-6.5 – knowing seven wins were needed to regain the Llandudno International Trophy.

GB&I captain had spoken about the importance of getting some blue on the board in the early stages of the match and Ashley Mansell did just that, racing out of blocks to go three up on Michael Block through after the opening nine holes.

Mansell, who is based at Clevedon GC, extended his lead to four with six to play and looked set to earn GB&I their first point of the day. But Block had other ideas, holing five birdies in the final six holes to complete a remarkable turnaround and ensure the first point on the board went to the Americans.

Matthew Cort (Beedles Lake) was next out for the home side and was looking to carry the form he showed yesterday on his birthday having won his two fourball and foursome matches. He trailed Ben Polland for much of the match, but a double bogey on the 15th allowed Cort to cut the deficit to just one with three to play. Another bogey by Polland at the 17th set up a tense finale, but both players made par and the match was halved.

James Ruth (China Fleet) headed into his contest with Larkin Gross having won one of his three matches so far this week. Having gone one up after the second, Gross reversed the scoreline and the American went to up heading into the back nine, but Ruth showed his quality to fight back and earn the GB&I another half-point.

The Americans added to their tally after Simon Thornton (Tulfarris) fell to a 4&3 defeat to Ryan Vermeer, but GB&I got some blue back on the board with Adam Keogh (Woodhall Spa) coming from behind to beat Frank Bensel Jr. It was a bittersweet victory for Keogh, who ended up on the losing team, but remained undefeated on is PGA Cup debut, claiming 3.5 points from four.

“I do feel disappointed,” said Keogh. “The boys gave everything and I’m disappointed to be on the wrong side of the result, but that’s golf. The game was played in the right spirit and congratulations to the opposition. For someone who works in the industry as we all do, it’s an incredible honour playing in this event. We have 8,000 Members so to be one of the 10 players here representing the PGA of Great Britain & Ireland, it’s a good achievement and I would encourage anyone to do the same thing.”

Daniel Whitby-Smith (Drayton Park) picked up his first full point of the weekend after beating Wyatt Worthington II 3&2 and Greig Hutcheon (Torphins GC) followed that up with another GB&I victory.

At this point in the match GB&I had important points on the board, but the scoreboard was not looking in their favour. Defeats for Simon Lilly (Wellingborough), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) and David Higgins (Waterville) followed, which led to joyous celebrations from the visiting team.

“We let ourselves down in the foursomes which made it difficult to come back in the singles,” said Russell. “The singles could have gone one way or the other really, at times we were on top but they’re quite a strong team.”

Despite the defeat, Russell feels his GB&I team, which contained no fewer than seven debutants, can leave Foxhills with their heads held high having given everything for the cause. Russell continued: “The team have been absolutely amazing. They’ve come together brilliantly, there’s been no individuals within the team. The ten of them have all got together and been brilliant. It really has been a wonderful experience.”

Reflecting on the whole PGA Cup experience, Russell added: “I can’t believe how much I have enjoyed it. It’s nice to bring my experience into fruition into something like this. It’s lovely to get the opportunity to do it.”

Whaley, the winning captain, who also led the US side to victory in 2019, said: “It started to get a little dicey out there. But in the end, we got it done. I have been lucky to have been able to do a lot of amazing things in my career, but this ranks right at the very top.”

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Essex’s Charlie Croker birdied four of the final five holes to claim a stunning victory at the English Boys’ County Champion of Champions.

Playing on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa Golf Club, the 15-year-old posted rounds of 71 and 68 for a 36-hole total of 139 (-7) and a one shot victory over Cumbria’s Joey Hornby

The event featured the boys’ champions from 30 counties in England – and was once again a terrific advert for junior golf in this country. Croker, from Thorndon Park Golf Club, looked to have drifted out of contention when he carded a double bogey six at the third hole in his afternoon round. At that stage, he was six shots behind leader Hornby.

Hornby, playing alongside Croker, had signed for a six-under par round in the morning and had made a steady start to his second round. But as Hornby stayed on track with a series of pars, Croker jumped on board a birdie train. He picked up shots at the sixth, eighth and ninth, and then found some extra energy to go on a final charge He knocked in a birdie at the par-five, 14th, a six-footer at 15 was sunk, as was a similar length putt on 17.

As Croker made his way to the 18th tee there was a three-way tie for top spot. Hornby remained on six-under par alongside Croker, while Northumberland’s Mogan Blythe – in the group behind – was on a charge of his own. Four birdies on the stretch of holes from seven through 14 had put the Hexham golfer joint top of the leaderboard. Blythe had other chances too. A birdie putt on the 15th grazed the hole, his 12-footer on the 16th horseshoed out and a 10-footer on the penultimate hole was bang on line but short of pace. With all three players locked together on the same score it came down to who finished the strongest.

Hornby made his 16th par of the afternoon round on the final hole to stay at -6. Croker, found the green in two and easily two-putted for another birdie  That left Blythe needing a four for a play-off, but after finding two bunkers on the closing hole had to settle for a bogey six and a share of third spot alongside Lancashire’s Noah Cambridge.

After collecting his trophy, Croker said: ” I was a bit out of it after making a double on the third, but there was still hope. I was playing nicely and I did think there was still a chance I could go low and thankfully that’s what happened. I was proud of myself that after a bad start, I played really well coming in to win.”

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