Why has Scheffler been world No 1 so long and who could replace him?

Scottie Scheffler continues to be the dominant world No 1 in men's golf, but how long will he stay top of the rankings and will he put more of Tiger Woods' records under threat?

Scheffler remains the most recent addition to the list of 25 players to have topped the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) since its introduction in 1986, with the American having four different spells at No 1 so far in his career.

The latest spell remains unbroken since May 2023, with Scheffler - as of October 12 - entering his 178th consecutive week as world No 1 and with a larger advantage over world No 2 Rory McIlroy than the Northern Irishman has over almost every active professional.

Scheffler is expected to only tee it up once more in 2026, at the Hero World Challenge from December 3-6 - an event he has finished first or second in four times over the last five years - although he already looks to have locked in starting the new year as No 1.

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How do the rankings work and why is Scheffler so far ahead?

The world rankings run over a rolling two-year cycle, with points awarded based on the strength of that tournament's field and how high a player finishes on the leaderboard.

A golfer's world ranking then comes from dividing the number of points earned by the number of tournaments someone has played during the cycle, while bonus ranking points are given to players who have won multiple events in a 52-week period.

Scheffler registered two major wins among his six worldwide titles in 2025 and already has three victories in 2026, a campaign in which his remarkable consistency has seen him post top-three finishes in half of his 20 worldwide starts.

"He's the best player in the world by a country mile," said Sky Sports' Andrew Coltart. "It's his distance control and his ability to get scoring irons pin-high basically all the time, along with an incredible level of consistency.

"Also, very importantly, I think it's his golfing IQ and his understanding of how his game is and where his game is at - that's why he's the dominant force in the game."

How has Scheffler cemented himself as No 1?

Claiming his first three PGA Tour titles in a seven-week stretch saw Scheffler take top spot for the first time in March 2022, a fortnight before his maiden major victory at The Masters, a position he held until McIlroy overtook him that October.

Scheffler enjoyed a one-week burst back at the top after his 2023 WM Phoenix Open win and another four-week run after winning The Players the following month, before Jon Rahm leapfrogged him with his second major win secured at Augusta National.

Rahm would lose top spot when Scheffler tied-second at the PGA Championship a month later, with no player since able to end his ever-increasing reign as world No 1.

"He has managed to stay at the top for so long because he has no weaknesses across his game," Sky Sports' Nick Dougherty said. "He was once a below-average putter, but he's now world class and a top-10 putter.

"The iron play is peerless - he's not just the best, he's the best by a mile when he's at his very peak. He leads birdie average and leads bogey avoidance. When you look at all of that together, there's just a reason he's better than everyone in every area."

Will Scheffler break Tiger's records?

Only Woods and Greg Norman have spent longer in their careers at world No 1 than Scheffler, who aged just 30 has already won 22 PGA Tour titles - including four majors and three legs of the career Grand Slam - and cemented his status among the greats.

Woods was world No 1 for 281 consecutive weeks from June 2005 to October 2010, breaking his own record of 264 weeks previously held from August 1999 to September 2004, with Scheffler the closest to ever seriously threaten those historic runs.

Scheffler would need to remain in top spot until October 2035 to overtake Woods' career total of 683 weeks as No 1 but only until mid-October 2028 to break the longest consecutive spell, although he has plenty of work to do to reach that milestone.

"I have absolutely no valid reason why he won't [pass 281 weeks], when you look at what he's doing right now, but the level rises around you," Dougherty added. "Whether it's Rory coming back for him again or whether he has a little bit of a slump.

"Golf is just really hard to be that good for that long. Other than Tiger Woods we've never really seen it, other than Scheffler. There's new kids on the block too and they're all hungry, so I've got a feeling someone will get to him before then."

Dame Laura Davies added: "No [he won't break the record], because of the challenging pack behind him. It won't be that he necessarily drops off that much, I just think there's way too many good players just in behind him. Over two years, it's a long time."

Will Woods or McIlroy ever return to world No 1?

Woods is currently listed as 'unranked' in the OWGR standings, having not played an official event since The Open in July 2024 and only completed four 72-hole tournaments over the last six seasons.

The 50-year-old has previously ruled out a return to full-time professional golf and is unlikely to ever return to being one of the world's best, but McIlroy has continued to be Scheffler's closest challenger to the No 1 spot.

McIlroy has been no lower than third in the world rankings since Scheffler became No 1 and has been second since last March, with the Northern Irishman winning back-to-back Masters titles over the last two seasons.

"I think McIlroy still has another stint there [at No 1] because, when he's at his absolute strength, he is definitely alongside Scheffler," Dougherty insisted. "I think he can take him on his day, he just isn't as consistent as Scottie."

Coltart added: "For McIlroy to get back to world No 1 is really tough. He's at a different stage of his life and he's attained, arguably, what he ever set out in his life to attain.

"He's older, he's got different aspirations. I don't think the fire is necessarily there that it was in his belly when he was in his early 20s. It will be very difficult for Rory to do that and I hope that he proves me wrong."

Who is likely to be Scheffler's replacement?

Matt Fitzpatrick has moved to world No 3 after winning four times in 2026, although the Zurich Classic of New Orleans did not offer world ranking points, while Players champion Cameron Young and US Open winner Wyndham Clark complete the top five.

Scheffler previously jumped from world No 15 to world No 1 in a six-week burst in 2022, highlighting that rapid rises are possible, although any of his challengers would likely require multiple more victories to be next in line for the world No 1 spot.

"If it's not Rory to go past him, it's hard to imagine who it would be among this current crop," Dougherty admitted. "It could be someone like Jackson Koivun, who is a new arrival and he's a superstar that clearly stands out already.

"It could be one of these young guns, it could even be someone we don't know yet, that's going to displace him at the top of the game."

Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns and Si Woo Kim have also made big rises up the world rankings in 2026, while Koivun and Miles Russell are others tipped to have big futures on the PGA Tour.

"There's half a dozen of them that could string together results, because that's what world No 1 is all about - consistency," Davies said. "At some point, someone will go past him. Who will that be? We'll have to wait and see.

"Watch this space, because they're all very good. He [Scheffler] is just that little bit better at the moment."

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