The 2021-22 PGA Tour season has come and gone in the blink of an eye and with it many players have changed the trajectory of their careers. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler began the season without a win to his name and, after a torrid spring that included donning the green jacket at the 2022 Masters, has ascended into being one of the premier players in the game.
The same goes for the man who immediately follows him in the Official World Golf Rankings as Cameron Smith captured not only the Players Championship but also The 150th Open at St. Andrews. Utilizing a blend of pinpoint accuracy with his irons and his unmatched putting stroke, the Australian has forever been etched into the history books.
Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Max Homa, Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Cantlay all check in as multiple-time winners as well as each enjoyed periods of play where they were untouchable. However, in the end, the man who entered the FedEx Cup Playoffs as the No. 1 player in The Power 18 Rankings will end the season in the same position.
Rory McIlroy was able to pull off the improbable at the 2022 Tour Championship and track down Scheffler after falling as many as 10 strokes behind. In a year as hectic as this past one was -- both on and off the golf course -- it was McIlroy who rose above the rest.
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 | |
| McIlroy accomplished a first on the PGA Tour when he raised the FedEx Cup for the third time in his career. Capping off a season that featured major heartache on the golf course and headache off the golf course, the Northern Irishman remains the top name on this list. Winning three times and finishing inside the top eight in all four major championships, McIlroy was the statistically best golfer from a strokes-gained perspective. Not only was he better than his peers, but he was also better than any version of his former self. Clipping his total statistical output from 2012 and 2014, McIlroy enjoyed the best year of his career both on and around the green. Despite this high, McIlroy must surely be kicking himself for not adding major No. 5 to his résumé. Previous Rank: 1 | |
| 2 | |
| Cantlay was not able to defend his FedEx Cup crown and would most likely characterize his season as disappointing. Claiming the BMW Championship for the second straight year, the 30-year-old added only one trophy to his mantle on his own accord -- he was also victorious alongside Schauffele at the Zurich Classic. Cantlay captured top-20 finishes in 14 of 20 starts, nine of which doubled as top-five efforts. Consistently in the mix down the stretch, the bounces simply did not go his way as they did in the 2021 postseason. With finishes of T13 at the U.S. Open and T8 at The Open, the Californian should finally factor in major championships in 2023. Previous: 3 | |
| 3 | |
| The Champion Golfer of the Year headlines the latest crop of players heading to LIV Golf as the Tour Championship marked potentially the final start of his PGA Tour career. After capturing three massive victories in the regular season, the postseason was a bit more peculiar. In contention at the St. Jude Championship, Smith was assessed a two-stroke penalty at the onset of his final round for an action which occurred the day prior. Ultimately falling short in Memphis, Smith withdrew from the BMW Championship and never factored at the FedEx Cup finale. In total, it was a fantastic season for the 29-year-old as he now gears up for the LIV Golf event in Boston. Previous: 2 | |
| 4 | |
| The world No. 1 had one hand on the FedEx Cup for much of the 2022 Tour Championship until things went awry on Sunday. Scheffler scuttled down the stretch and ultimately squandered his six-stroke 54-hole lead to McIlroy with a final round 73. It will be interesting to see if this disappointment will adversely affect Scheffler in the future as it was the second tournament of the summer which he let slide through his fingers -- the Charles Schwab Challenge being the other. With the Masters and three other victories to his name, it is easy to forget Scheffler was winless to begin the year. While he proved to be the talent everyone believed him to be -- and will likely win Player of the Year -- we witnessed the variability of winning work against him late in the season. Previous: 5 | |
| 5 | |
| Schauffele shed the moniker of being unable to close with his back-to-back titles at the Travelers Championship and the Scottish Open. He was one of three players to touch the lead at the FedEx Cup finale, but eventually fell off the pace with a poor performance over the weekend. Among the steadiest in the game, Schauffele missed only one cut in 2021-22 and finished inside the top 20 in 17 of his 23 starts. Previous: 4 | |
| 6 | |
| Finau almost became the latest in the short list of players to win three tournaments in a row, but fell just short to Zalatoris at the St. Jude Championship. Doubling his career win total in the span of 11 days, Finau's spring and summer could be stacked up against anyone's. After failing to collect a single top-10 finish in his first 13 starts of the season, a runner-up performance at the Mexico Open flipped his year around. In his final 13 starts, Finau captured two victories, two runners-up and three top-10 results. Previous: 6 | |
| 7 | |
| The back injury will be concerning moving forward for the wiry Zalatoris, but let us celebrate the season that was. Falling in a playoff at the PGA Championship and nearly forcing another at the U.S. Open, the Wake Forest product was rewarded for his patience with a breakthrough victory at the St. Jude Championship. His ball-striking is well apparent and his putting stroke is capable in the biggest of moments. Herniated discs have derailed golf careers before, but given he is still only 26, I am hopeful Zalatoris will not fall into this pool. Previous: 12 | |
| 8 | |
| There is a serious chance Im enjoys a breakout season similar to that of Scheffler in 2023. The South Korean captured only one victory at the Shriners Children's Open, but culminated his year in style. Falling one stroke shy of winning the FedEx Cup, Im collected three runner-up finishes in his final five starts of 2022. He enjoyed his best statistical season to date and improved in each tee-to-green metric. Previous: 14 | |
| 9 | |
| The Englishman transformed into a completely different player this season. Adding significant distance and becoming a threat with driver in hand, Fitzpatrick's consistency finally paid off with a victory at the U.S. Open. Finishing inside the top 10 in nearly half of his starts, the 27-year-old may only just be getting started. Previous: 7 | |
| 10 | |
| For a player of Thomas's caliber, raising a single trophy -- albeit a big one at the PGA Championship -- is disappointing. He had five realistic opportunities to win throughout the season and may look to his iron play as an area that needs improvement. Considered one of the best iron players in the world, Thomas put together his worst approach numbers since the 2016 season. Previous: 8 | |
| 11 | |
| The man who began 2022 as the world No. 1 saw his name drop outside the top five of the OWGR for the first time since 2019. If Thomas' and Cantlay's seasons were light on trophies, Rahm's certainly falls under the same category. Besting only a less-than-stellar field at the Mexico Open, perhaps it was the early season shootout loss in Maui against Smith that threw him off his game for the rest of the year. The good news for Rahm is he was wildly impressive off the tee and that area is the most predictive when projecting future success. Previous: 10 | |
| 12 | |
| The winner of the first event of the 2021-22 season, Homa carried the momentum when the calendar flipped into the new year. Adding a second Wells Fargo Championship to his trophy case, improving in major championships, and finishing T5 at the Tour Championship, Homa continues to put his name in the conversation when discussing the world's best. Gaining strokes in each statistical category, this marked the first time Homa was able to accomplish this in his PGA Tour career. Previous: 17 | |
| 13 | |
| The 23-year-old joined his former Presidents Cup teammate Smith in jumping to LIV Golf. Maximizing his value, Niemann is coming off a season where he captured the Genesis Invitational hosted by Tiger Woods and contended in fields such as the Farmers Insurance Open, Memorial and BMW Championship. He experienced the best ball-striking season since 2018 and gained strokes around the green for the first time in his career. Previous: NR | |
| 14 | |
| A hot winter saw Hovland's name jump up the to the world's No. 3. Winning in Mexico, The Bahamas and on the DP World Tour, the Norwegian was unable to channel his good fortunes in foreign countries into more winning in the United States. Still without a victory in the continental U.S., Hovland will need to improve his chipping and bunker play over the offseason if he is to return to the upper echelon of the game. Previous: 16 | |
| 15 | |
| Perhaps the most disappointing season belongs to Morikawa. The two-time major champion went winless around 2021-22 and squandered a real chance to become the world No. 1 when he lost a 54-hole lead at the Hero World Challenge. Morikawa went onto play overseas and then contracted COVID-19 as he came into 2022 in a weird spot. He spoke to this on multiple occasions and finally felt as if he returned to "old Collin" during the FedEx Cup Playoffs. In what may be considered a wasted season, Morikawa's play in the postseason has the potential to propel him into a memorable 2023. Previous: 18 | |
| 16 | |
| This spot in the rankings is a bit harsh, but Burns really fell off over the last few months of the season. Yes, he won three times this season, but the 26-year-old did not contend in any of the major championships and was rather forgetful throughout the summer. He is a fantastic talent and will bounce back, but the inconsistency in his ball striking proved too much for his streaky putter to overcome down the stretch. Previous: 13 | |
| 17 | |
| The presumed PGA Tour Rookie of the Year will win next season. Finishing inside the top three seven different times including at the PGA Championship and The Open, Young showcased his game can travel to any type of golf course in any type of conditions. He ranked second to only Rahm in strokes gained off the tee and will likely now experience his first team event at the 2022 Presidents Cup. Maybe, just maybe, this event will serve as a catalyst for Young in the same way the Ryder Cup catapulted Scheffler into the 2021-22 season. Previous: 11 | |
| 18 | |
| The final spot on the United States Presidents Cup team is still up for grabs and for my money, it will be Wise's. The former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year collected three top-15 finishes in his last four starts of the season and struck the ball beautifully throughout the year. The introduction of the broomstick late in 2021 rejuvenated his play and aided him in gaining strokes on the greens for the first time since his rookie campaign. Previous: NR | |
Cameron Smith is officially joining LIV Golf. Rick Gehman and Kyle Porter discuss what this means for the PGA Tour. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
