When Scottie Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, it was notable for a number of reasons. Perhaps none of those reasons, though, will be felt more this week at The Players Championship than his ascension into the top five into the Official World Golf Rankings. Why is that so notable this week at the PGA Tour's crown jewel event of the year? It marks the first time in the history of the OWGR that every player in the top five in the world is under age 30.
This youth movement is nothing new, of course. Most golf scribes have been writing about it anecdotally or empirically for several years (this is one of the better stat-based articles I've seen on it), but it's more meaningful that it's this prominent in a Players week than any other week.
The PGA Tour has been fighting off the rival Super Golf League for the last few years now, and showcasing that the very best players in the world, none of whom were rumored as potential candidates to jump to the SGL and many of whom vehemently voiced their allegiance to the Tour, is always a good thing.
Here are the current top five.
- No. 1: Jon Rahm (age: 27)
- No. 2: Collin Morikawa (25)
- No. 3: Viktor Hovland (24)
- No. 4: Patrick Cantlay (29)
- No. 5: Scottie Scheffler (25)
Throw in three others in the top 10 under age 30 -- Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Smith -- and the old men of the top 10 are currently Rory McIlroy (all of 33) and Dustin Johnson (37).
The other reason this stat and generational shift is meaningful is because this will be the first Players in nearly 30 years that won't include Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods. Lefty will miss after a turbulent few weeks of SGL chatter turned into a full-blown disaster that ended with him losing most of his sponsorships. He's not expected to play again until at least the Masters. Woods has not played anywhere since the end of 2020 after a car wreck in February 2021 nearly left him without his right leg.
Next week will be the first @THEPLAYERSChamp without either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson competing since 1994.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) March 4, 2022
The two biggest stars of the past generation -- and two of the biggest of any generation -- are irreplaceable, but if there was a way to ease the transition, this is it. The Players is such a fitting spot to notice and realize this because it's the biggest event of a Tour that most needs these stars. That is, major championships -- which are outside the purview of the PGA Tour -- are monstrous and will attract fans no matter who's playing them because they're major championships. However, the Charles Schwab Challenge doesn't get promoted as simply the Charles Schwab Challenge as much as the "come see Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa play in Fort Worth, Texas, for these four days" tournament.
This could still be the case if older players like Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen and D.J. were in the top five in the world, but it's a lot more exciting in any sport when younger stars take over. We're seeing this right now in the NBA. We know what LeBron James is, and there's a familiarity there with him. We don't know what Ja Morant could be. And that reality engenders a ton of excitement.
This is an excitement that we're sure to see this week at TPC Sawgrass as the best in the world congregate. And while a 30-something or even 40-something could win this year's Players, this week is a tiny marker in time in the world of professional golf. With Mickelson and Woods out of the picture for an indeterminable amount of time, and all five of the top five in the world still in their 20s, the takeover is now complete -- if it wasn't already before.
