Getty Scottie Scheffler during the first round of the Texas Children's Houston Open.
For 45 weeks now, Scottie Scheffler has been the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, taking the top spot for the fourth time in his career on May 21, 2023. And given the way he’s played as of late, there are no signs that he’ll relinquish it anytime soon.
Scheffler, who’s held the No. 1 ranking for 80 total weeks during his four reigns, has a long way to go to catch Tiger Woods‘ all-time record of 683 weeks atop the OWGR. But with a win at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, which kicked off on March 28, the 27-year-old can join Woods in an exclusive club of players who’ve won three consecutive starts.
Tiger’s a five-time member of the club, ridiculously notching separate winning streaks of seven, six, five and three (twice).
Woods is also one of just four players since the turn of the century to win three straight starts, the others being Vijay Singh, Rory McIlroy, and Dustin Johnson, who last accomplished the feat in 2017. Like Scheffler, each of these players has held the top spot in the world rankings.
So, coming off wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, Scheffler has a shot at joining quite the elite group if he can pull off a win in Houston, where he has some fond memories.
Scottie Scheffler Has Been Dominant to Start the 2024 PGA Tour Season
While it’s never easy to contend in any golf tournament, Scheffler certainly makes it seem that way at times.
Coming off a two-win campaign a season ago, the world No. 1 has continued his stellar play in 2024, racking up six top-10 finishes in just seven starts.
He kicked off his season at The Sentry, tying for fifth, then recorded his worst finish of the year two weeks later, tying for 17th at The American Express. Another two weeks later, he tied for sixth at Pebble Beach and followed it up by nearly winning the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale for the third year in a row, ultimately tying for third.
After a tie for 10th at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, Scheffler finally got to the winner’s circle with a five-shot victory at Bay Hill and then took a dramatic one-shot win at TPC Sawgrass to become the first back-to-back winner in Players Championship history.
Scheffler’s stats tell the tale of why he’s been in contention just about every week, as he ranks first among all PGA Tour players in total strokes gained (2.821), strokes gained off the tee (0.966), strokes gained approach (1.268), greens in regulation percentage (77.78%), putting average (1.668), scoring average (67.41), and birdie average (5.48).
Scheffler Has a Solid History in Houston
Prior to the 2024 edition of the Houston Open, Scheffler has played the event on four previous occasions, the last three of which came at the tourney’s current venue at Memorial Park.
While he finished 32nd in 2020, he bounced back nicely the following year and tied for second, at the time matching the best finish of his young career. The highlight of the week was his course-record-tying 62 in the second round, which Tony Finau also tied the following year. Scheffler played solidly the week Finau won in 2022 as well, tying for ninth.
Of the dozen rounds Scheffler had played at Memorial Park heading into the 2024 event, his average score was 68.75. So he knows his way around this golf course, which he proved with a fantastic 5-under round of 65 to kick off his quest for a third consecutive victory, putting him just one shot back of the lead heading into the second round on March 29.
Can Scottie Scheffler make it three wins in three starts? We’ll find out soon enough.