Scottie Scheffler remains atop golf’s Power 18, but five runner-up finishes and a winless drought have opened the door for a postseason takeover in FedEx Cup.
Scottie Scheffler is still the best golfer on the planet. The rankings say it. His relentless consistency says it. Just about every statistical category says it.
The trophy case, however, has been unusually quiet.
Scheffler remains No. 1 in the latest Power 18 Golf Rankings from Patrick McDonald of CBS Sports, but his 2026 season has become a bizarre collection of close calls. After winning his season debut, Scheffler has finished runner-up five times without adding another victory.
That’s not a slump. It’s golf’s most talented player repeatedly reaching the doorstep and watching somebody else slam the door.
Jackson Koivun most recently denied Scheffler at the 3M Open. Before that, Rory McIlroy beat him at the Masters, Matt Fitzpatrick took the RBC Heritage, Cameron Young captured the Cadillac Championship and Viktor Hovland won the Travelers Championship.
Scheffler’s regular season also included a missed cut at the Scottish Open, ending his ridiculous streak of 35 consecutive top-25 finishes. He responded by contending at The Open and nearly winning again in Minnesota, but one glaring number remains: zero 54-hole leads.
That vulnerability has turned the FedEx Cup Playoffs into something far more interesting than expected. Fitzpatrick and Chris Gotterup have each collected multiple victories, while Young and Wyndham Clark have built legitimate player-of-the-year cases of their own.
Scheffler still owns the top spot, but the gap no longer feels untouchable.
McIlroy remains second despite some shaky Saturday rounds and three straight tournaments losing strokes on approach. Young climbed to third after nearly forcing a playoff at The Open and following it with a top-10 finish at the Rocket Classic.
Fitzpatrick sits fourth, while Sam Burns rounds out the top five after finishing a combined 20 under across the four majors. Burns didn’t win one, but he produced podium finishes at both the U.S. Open and The Open.
Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Gotterup, Collin Morikawa and Clark complete the top 10. Schauffele is surging after finishing second to Michael Thorbjornsen at the Rocket Classic, while Morikawa appears healthy again and could be a major postseason threat if his improved putting holds up.
Further down, Ludvig Åberg ranks 14th after a quiet top-10 performance at Royal Birkdale. Bryson DeChambeau returns at No. 15, Hideki Matsuyama checks in at No. 17 and Ryan Gerard grabs the final position following four top-10 finishes in his last seven starts.
The postseason now becomes Scheffler’s chance to end the strangest drought in professional golf.
He’s still No. 1. He’s still the man everyone is chasing. But for the first time in a while, the chase looks winnable.
