Rahm-McIlroy-Scheffler: A look at the World’s top-three golfers’ head-to-head record
Scottie Scheffler's victory at Sawgrass saw him snatch the No. 1 spot on OWGR from John Rahm. And not far behind them at No. 3 is four-time major champion, Rory McIlroy.
Currently, with a lot of shuffling in the rankings with every tournament played, it is difficult to say for sure who is the best amongst the three. If we go by overall records, Rahm and Scheffler's accolades, even when combined, pale in comparison to McIlroy's. But that really would not be a fair comparison, considering that McIlroy is more of a veteran on the course, while the other two are still in the early days of their careers.
Steady rise for Scottie Scheffler 📈
A look at his continuous climb to World No. 1. https://t.co/XtHgkbGc6k
So, the best way to compare would be to put their head-to-head records against each other. But even in this case, McIlroy edges out his rivals, albeit just about.
How 2023 has panned out for the three so far
The year 2023 saw them all holding on to the top spot at one point or the other. McIlroy started the year at No. 1, a position he held on to for five weeks, after three wins and four top 4 finishes in a brilliant run over seven straight matches.
A great start to the year. On to the next one… https://t.co/sEzeKMFxaT
But Scheffler's victory at the WM Phoenix Open was rewarded with a rank one position for the American. But that position lasted about a week, as Rahm won the Genesis Invitational - his third victory in five PGA Tour starts and fifth worldwide in his last nine.
But along came Scheffler yet again, winning The Players, a tournament from which Rahm had withdrawn and McIlroy failed to make the cut.
So how do they fare head-to-head?
Surprisingly, the three golfers playing the same week does not happen often enough, although that would probably change given how the schedule is this year, with the PGA Tour coming up with their 'designated events'.
There were 12 events in which all three played: the four majors, FedEx Cup Playoffs, CJ Cup in South Carolina, and the other three events this year—Phoenix Open, Genesis, and Arnold Palmer.
When considering where they all placed each week, McIlroy comes with the best record of 14-8-2, Scheffler is second with a 12-10-2 record, while Rahm has a rather surprising 7-15-2 against the other two.
Rahm had himself admitted that he had not been at his best on the biggest stages last season: His best finish in the Big Four was a T12 in the US Open, and he was outside the top 30 in the PGA Championship and Open Championship.
John Rahm what a Putt https://t.co/jPxSBTTA0O
McIlroy, on the other hand, posted a top eight finish in all the majors, which included a runners-up finish at the Masters. Scheffler, meanwhile, won for the first time at Augusta and finished second at the US Open.
McIlroy finished the year with back-to-back wins in the Tour Championship and CJ Cup. Since then, however, both Rahm and Scheffler have bettered him in all tournaments except at Bayhill, where the Northern Irishman finished second.
What of their average?
All three posted impressive averages of 69 plus, with Rory coming out on top with 69, with McIlroy coming out trumps with 69.04. He also had the top average placing of 16.3, compared to Rahm at 20.9 and Scheffler at 24.0.
Conclusion
It is fair to say that Rahm has had the best 2023 so far, with three wins to Scheffler’s one and McIlroy’s nil. However, Rahm won two tournaments in which McIlroy didn’t compete—Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express. Again, going by this year, Scheffler has the best record of the three with a 4-2 record. Rahm is 3-3 and McIlroy is 2-4.
But all this is just a taster. there is a lot to play for over the next few months and this would be one major rivalry to look forward to for sure.