The Power 18 golf rankings: Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Patrick Reed enter the fold amid blistering starts
It's still Scottie Scheffler's world, though, and everyone else is just living in it
•
9 min read
After just one start into his PGA Tour season, Scottie Scheffler brought a thought to the minds of those watching and covering the sport: "How many times is he going to win this year?" Running away and hiding from the field at the 2026 American Express, the world No. 1 claimed the 20th PGA Tour victory of his career, doing so early in the playing schedule.
Where will Scheffler go from here? Will he threaten double-digit wins this season? It seems like an absurd question to ask, but the fact that it can be asked speaks to Scheffler's place in golf and atop the newest Power 18 rankings. Scheffler has been firmly holding the No. 1 spot for years, and he won't be moving anytime soon.
However, one month into the year, it is not the four-time major champion who has claimed the most trophies on the PGA Tour but rather another young American. Scheffler is one of three players to win on the PGA Tour already this season. The others are Justin Rose and Chris Gotterup, who reigned victorious in a playoff over Hideki Matsuyama at the WM Phoenix Open on Sunday for his second victory of 2026. Stretching back to last summer, Gotterup has entered the winner's circle three times out of his last 10 PGA Tour starts.
Play on the PGA Tour continues to find its stride with the first two signature events upcoming, as European stalwarts like Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood will enter the fold. Meanwhile, the DP World Tour wrapped up its first stretch in the Middle East as none other than Patrick Reed asserted his dominance with a pair of victories to all but secure his full-time card on the PGA Tour in 2027.
Around the block in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf got its season underway with Elvis Smylie winning in his league debut, clipping two-time major champion Jon Rahm by a single stroke. The Spaniard has not entered the winner's circle since September 2024 despite a run of consistency that produced the season-long individual title last year.
The Power 18 provides insight as to how golfers are currently performing with benefit given to their play over recent events. It is a wider lens than simply what happened at the last tournament to be played but more narrow than the Official World Golf Rankings, which take into account how more than 2,000 golfers perform across an entire season.
The Power 18
| 1 | |
| Scheffler has won seven of his last 14 PGA Tour events dating back to last season, so the hypothesis of a 10-win campaign isn't totally out of the equation. If he is to play in 20 tournaments in 2026 and keep this current pace, he will threaten that total as well as the most wins in the modern era of the PGA Tour. He built up his endurance, looks stronger and continues to separate himself from the pack following his win at The American Express. His showing at the WM Phoenix Open, where he spotted the field 10 strokes only to fall one shy of a playoff with his C game, goes to show the height of his floor. Previous: 1 | |
| 2 | |
| It's a big year for Rahm, and he knows it following a season in which he did not enter the winner's circle as an individual. The consistency remains and LIV Golf's move to 72 holes should help the two-time major champion and his quest to win in bunches. He had not played competitively since the middle of October and finished in a flurry in Saudi Arabia with a final-round 63, but it proved too little too late and resulted in another runner-up. Previous: 2 | |
| 3 | |
| There was some good and some bad from McIlroy's eight rounds in Dubai. He finished T3 in the Dubai Invitational, where his iron play sizzled and then cooled considerably and followed it up with a T33 at the Dubai Desert Classic. That has typically been a comfortable golf course for him as he now starts his season on the PGA Tour at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am where he serves as defending champion. His iron play will need to be pinpointed in his defense. Previous: 4 | |
| 4 | |
| After admitting he took a little time to himself this offseason, the rust was noticeable in Fleetwood's first two starts. It will be curious to see whether Fleetwood can regain the form that carried him to two victories to close out his 2025 as he was just splendid throughout the bag the entire back half of the year. Like McIlroy, he now turns stateside. Previous: 5 | |
| 5 | |
| DeChambeau is so busy signing deals with prediction markets and negotiating his contract on LIV Golf that he has not played since the Ryder Cup. He insists play on his YouTube channel keeps him sharp for competitive action, and that theory was tested in Riyadh where he finished T17 under the lights. His year will be all about his iron play and if he was able to solve any of the issues with those clubs during his break. Previous: 6 | |
| 6 | |
| What he is doing off the tee right now is just plain out fun to watch. Shaping shots, changing trajectory and blending distance and accuracy together, Gotterup got his third career win at the Sony Open and then his fourth at the WM Phoenix Open. His play at the Farmers Insurance Open showed his potential with his long irons, and his play at TPC Scottsdale reaffirmed that he is not afraid of the moment. Previous: Not ranked | |
| 7 | |
| The 45-year-old climbed to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings with his win at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he not only boatraced the field but displayed some newly found distance. Rose was not only longer off the tee but also more accurate. The driver has been the issue the last handful of seasons, and if he figured that out, who is to say he can't nab one more major championship? He was close in 2024 and 2025. Previous: NR | |
| 8 | |
| It has been another strong start to the season for the man from Japan. Matsuyama made a run at the Sony Open over the weekend after squeaking through to cut and finished T13 before a T11 result materialized at the Farmers Insurance Open. The iron play has been sublime, and the short game continues to dazzle, but the driver was the clear reason he did not step into the winner's circle for the third time at TPC Scottsdale. Once he begins finding the map off the tee, he will enter the hoist another trophy. Previous: 8 | |
| 9 | |
| Look who's here! The 2021 Masters champion claimed the Dubai Desert Classic and subsequently announced he would be leaving LIV Golf to play full-time on the DP World Tour in 2026 -- in advance of a return to the PGA Tour in 2027. He followed up his win with a playoff loss in Bahrain and another victory at the Qatar Masters to rise to the top spot in the Race to Dubai. If he finishes inside the top 10 of the season-long race, Reed will up his priority ranking on the tour in 2026, which he has all but done given his current points total. Previous: NR | |
| 10 | |
| He may be hitting the ball as crisply as anyone not named Scheffler to start the year. Kim has 11 straight top-25 finishes around the world dating back to last August and has started his PGA Tour campaign with some serious form. In four starts, he has four top 11 finishes including a distant runner-up result at the Farmers Insurance Open and a final group tee time at The American Express. The putter is holding him back from raising his fifth trophy on tour. Previous: NR | |
| 11 | |
| Bought a lot of stock in Schauffele at the start of the year, and we are not selling quite yet. Perhaps we can consider this dollar cost averaging, as his long-term outlook remains positive despite missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open and sneaking through to the weekend in Arizona. Similar to Fleetwood, the two-time major champion revealed he took a considerable break from the clubs during his time off to spend with family. It's well deserved, but it's now time for Schauffele to show off some work. Previous: 2 | |
| 12 | |
| After a stellar finish to his 2025, Fitzpatrick misstepped at The American Express to start his 2026. Consider it a blip on the radar on an otherwise nice run of form for the former U.S. Open champion. Fitzpatrick found some success at the WM Phoenix Open with a top 10 making it three top 15 finishes in five tournament appearances. Previous: 11 | |
| 13 | |
| Ever the tinkerer, Hovland had some moments in his lone start in Dubai, where he finished T14. The Norwegian is working on a few things, adding and subtracting some clubs from his bag and made his PGA Tour season debut at a spot where he hasn't played in a few years. It resulted in a contention run and ultimately a T10 finish as his iron play looked sublime and his comfort level on the greens was noticeable. However, the decrease in speed over the last three years has not been discussed enough. Previous: 12 | |
| 14 | |
| Did not make a ton of noise in his PGA Tour season debut at Torrey Pines, but it was a solid first tournament. Young drove it great and struck his irons soundly but did not make enough putts to seriously contend, although a top 25 finish was a quality result. He looked out of sorts in Scottsdale, but it will be interesting to see how he rounds out the West Coast swing with some of the poa annua putting surfaces like Pebble Beach on the horizon. Previous: 9 | |
| 15 | |
| A Sunday 63 propped MacIntyre up and into the top five at the Sony Open in his first start of the year. The Scotsman followed it up with a middling T38 at the American Express, but he is never one to contend in the type of tournaments where the winning score approaches 30 under. He recently welcomed a child into the world as well, showing he is winning off the golf course, too. Previous: 10 | |
| 16 | |
| Henley just keeps churning out one quality finish after another. He has started his year with consecutive top 20 results with the latter doubling as a top 10 at The American Express. His iron play been beautiful, and his consistency off the tee continues to set the table for that skillset. Similar to some of these other guys, Henley should feel more comfortable on the greens once the tour moves on from California. Previous: 16 | |
| 17 | |
| A step back in form has yet to materialize as Griffin has notched three top 30 finishes in as many starts in 2026. The distance gains he made in 2025 have been sustained, the iron play has had its moments, he just has not had a week where the hole has looked like a basketball hoop. Previous: 15 | |
| 18 | |
| Gerard's streak of runner-up results ends at three, but not by much after his T11 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He continues to take steps in the right direction with his game as his putter has made a serious turnaround in his first three starts of the year. If it is sustainable and not just a flash in the pan, Gerard should continue to threaten leaderboards as he is now up to No. 24 in the OWGR. Previous: NR | |
