The 2024 PGA Tour season began with Scottie Scheffler atop The Power 18 golf rankings, and it ended with the same man occupying the top spot. It was eight months filled with seven trophies (and an Olympic gold medal), rightful comparisons to Tiger Woods and winner's checks amounting to north of $62 million. Scheffler surged past the world of golf and into a category of his own.
His first FedEx Cup crown at the Tour Championship was the rightful end to a dominant season, and it left us to discern the rest of the competition. Xander Schauffele was the clear-cut No. 2 to Scheffler after coming on midway through the campaign. Not only did Schauffele cross off a couple major championships from his list of goals, his consistency shined. Extending the longest made-cut streak since Woods' 142, the two-time major champion blended his high floor with a ceiling many had been waiting to see him reach.
There are a few players who may have a claim to the final spot on the podium, including the man who did just that at the Olympics. Hideki Matsuyama collected his 10th PGA Tour victory at the St. Jude Championship in his first start since donning the bronze medal in Paris. Matsuyama is among a group of winners who had great seasons: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Wyndham Clark. Meanwhile, Collin Morikawa fired the lowest score at the Tour Championship yet left without a trophy continuing a theme for his 2024 that others like Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott and Viktor Hovland all endured.
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 | |
| It's been a free space on the bingo card all year. Winning eight times in his last 15 starts (including the Olympics), Scheffler became the first player since Woods in 2007 to collect seven trophies on the PGA Tour. He led just about every statistical category, gained strokes on the greens and carded 42 straight rounds at par-or-better at one stage in the season. Scheffler's win at East Lake was the correct ending to his historic campaign. Previous: 1 | |
| 2 | |
| Schauffele tried his damnedest to add some color to the PGA Tour Player of the Year conversation but will ultimately come up short. Since raising the Claret Jug, he has factored at the Olympics and finished inside the top five in all three FedEx Cup Playoff events. Not only is Schauffele the only player on the PGA Tour to rank inside the top 25 in each strokes-gained category, he also hasn't finished outside the top 25 in a tournament since early February. Previous: 2 | |
| 3 | |
| This spot could go a number of different ways, but with the dust settled, it is clear Matsuyama belongs here. A winner in two of the strongest fields in 2024 -- the Genesis Invitational and the St. Jude Championship -- the man from Japan also added a bronze medal to his name and factored in a major championship. He led the PGA Tour in strokes gained around the green by a wide margin and put together his best driving season since 2017. Previous: 7 | |
| 4 | |
| LIV Golf still has one individual event to go, and Rahm is as sure of a thing to factor. His first LIV Golf season has included 12 top-10 finishes in 12 starts, including a long-awaited victory last month in the United Kingdom. After squandering a four-stroke back-nine lead at the Olympics, the Spaniard tripped up again at LIV Golf Greenbrier where he lost in playoff to Brooks Koepka. Previous: 3 | |
| 5 | |
| After the Tour Championship, McIlroy admitted to running out of steam and the results back it up. In his final five starts of the summer, the 35-year-old collected just one top-five finish with that coming at the Olympics where he faltered down the stretch. We'll see him again this year overseas where he'll look to make some strides with his iron play as 2024 marked his worst approach season since his rookie year on the PGA Tour. Previous: 4 | |
| 6 | |
| While he may not have received a trophy, Morikawa did claim plenty of Official World Golf Rankings points for carding the low 72-hole total at the Tour Championship. After a sluggish start to his year, the two-time major champion caught fire at the Masters and never looked back. While the iron play never returned to peak levels -- in fact, it was the worst of his career -- Morikawa did post career highs in terms of total strokes gained, strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained around the green and strokes gained putting. Simply put, he is not longer a one-trick pony. Previous: 6 | |
| 7 | |
| His first full-time campaign on the PGA Tour could not have gone better. Åberg finished runner-up in his Masters debut, held the 36-hole lead at the U.S. Open and had more than his fair share of chances to grab his second win stateside. There are improvements to be had as is the case with every young player as the Swede's short game still has room to grow and his Sunday scoring average left a little to be desired. Previous: 8 | |
| 8 | |
| There haven't been many players better than the 44-year-old since the beginning of July. Capturing five top-20 finishes in his final five starts, including runner-up finishes at the Scottish Open and BMW Championship, Scott showed that his silky smooth swing can still produce high quality golf. Not only was the long game improved, but the Australian has now gained strokes putting in six straight seasons. Previous: Not ranked | |
| 9 | |
| Ball knowers have had Henley pegged as a top 10 player in the world for a while, and he proved why late in the summer. One of the best major championship competitors of 2024, the Georgia Bulldog was feasting on the home cooking at East Lake where he finished in a share of fourth place. After a half decade of poor putting, Henley found his stride with the blade in hand posting his best putting numbers since 2017. Previous: 15 | |
| 10 | |
| It was another well-rounded season that resulted with no victories for Fleetwood. The Englishman grabbed silver in Paris and brought that momentum into the postseason where he finished T5 at the BMW Championship -- his first top-five finish on the PGA Tour since the Masters. Similar to McIlroy, Fleetwood still has plenty of golf in front of him with the DP World Tour's flagship event upcoming. Previous: 9 | |
| 11 | |
| Cantlay finished on a high note with six straight top 25s to end his year, but it's hard not to consider the season as a whole as a disappointment. Coming in with high expectations, the former FedEx Cup champion posted career lows in terms of total strokes gained, strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained approach. He got a sniff of major contention, which could prove beneficial next year. Previous: 10 | |
| 12 | |
| Burns had one of the most underrated summers in professional golf. He collected seven top 15s in his last nine starts, which included a nice run in the postseason with a T5 at the St. Jude Championship and runner-up result at the BMW Championship. His iron play was much improved during this span and will be the catalyst for him moving forward. Previous: NR | |
| 13 | |
| Outside of his YouTube challenges, we have not heard much from the U.S. Open champion since his win at Pinehurst No. 2. He remains winless on LIV Golf in 2024 and finished in the middle of the pack in his defense at The Greenbrier. His Crushers top the charts heading into the final stretch of LIV Golf's year. Previous: 5 | |
| 14 | |
| Once Im got healthy midway through the year, he looked like his normal self. In his last 15 worldwide starts, the 26-year-old picked up a win in South Korea, three top-five finishes and seven other top 15s. The game is there, but another season on the PGA Tour has gone by without him raising a trophy with his last coming in the fall of 2021. Previous: 11 | |
| 15 | |
| Clark was tough to peg all season given his boom-or-bust nature, but he found a string of consistency towards the end of the summer. Grabbing six top 15s in his last seven starts, the world No. 6 rediscovered the type of ball striking that had led him to three monster victories in less than 12 months. The upside is apparent, but the floor remains a little shaky. Previous: NR | |
| 16 | |
| He's close, but Hovland still has a ways to go. He entered the postseason at risk of being unable to defend both the BMW Championship and Tour Championship but clawed his way into the final two playoff events thanks to a runner-up finish at the St. Jude Championship. His full swing looks sharper, but his short game is as sloppy as ever finishing the year 162 out of 164 in strokes gained around the green. Previous: 18 | |
| 17 | |
| The putter remained a problem for Finau in 2024. Going through multiple set ups, the 34-year-old posted his career-worst numbers on the greens amid one of the best ball striking seasons of his career. When the putter did pop, Finau found the first page of the leaderboard as noted by three straight top 10s at the Memorial, U.S. Open and Travelers Championship. Previous: 13 | |
| 18 | |
| Horschel put together his second-best strokes-gained season after enduring one of his worst in 2023. He was going along steadily before hitting the gas with a runner-up at The Open and top 10s at the Wyndham Championship and St. Jude Championship. He'll tee it up in Europe before a possible appearance in the Presidents Cup. Previous: NR | |
