The Power 18 golf rankings: Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland open on top as 2024 PGA Tour season begins
A new year means new rankings as The Power 18 charts its course for the 2024 season
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9 min read
Though there has not been much action on the course between the end of the FedEx Cup Fall and the beginning of the new year, golf did not take a break in December. The rumor mill is swirling, the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund continue to negotiate a potential deal, and oh yeah, the 2024 PGA Tour season is now at our door step. With the return to a calendar season for the PGA Tour comes a preseason edition of The Power 18 golf rankings.
Before we get into the inaugural rankings for 2024, there is an elephant (or three) in the room that needs to be addressed. LIV Golf's season does not begin until February meaning their inclusion in the first iteration of these rankings does not make a whole lot of sense. Yes, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are among the best players in the world, but for this preseason edition, we stick with PGA Tour players and then fold in LIV Golf members as they take to the course next month.
With that out of the way -- and only a small corner of the internet golf community now offended -- we get to The Power 18 with none other than Scottie Scheffler headlining the rankings. Coming off a historic tee-to-green season, Scheffler added a much-deserved third title of 2023 in his last start at the Hero World Challenge.
Adhering to the advice of putting guru Phil Kenyon -- who works with the likes of Max Homa, Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick and Keegan Bradley -- Scheffler could be on the cusp of marrying his daunted tee-to-green presence with an adequate putter setting up a potentially monstrous 2024 campaign.
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 | |
| If Schefflerhad enjoyed an average 2023 season on the greens, he would have won five, six, maybe even seven times. Alas, he did not, and to his credit, he is putting in the work to transform this weakness into a potential strength. It will need to make a massive leap because his tee-to-green adequacy is not something we have seen since peak Tiger Woods as he checked in near full stroke better than Patrick Cantlay in second. Scheffler led the PGA Tour in top 10s (17), scoring average (68.6), official money ($21 million), and strokes gained (2.3) in 2023, and there isn't much to suggest he won't do it again. | |
| 2 | |
| Hovland nearly pulled off the FedEx Cup, DP World Tour Championship double, but he ultimately fell short to Nicolai Hojgaard in Dubai. He wasn't able to complete the three-peat at the Hero World Challenge either despite finishing with a 9-under 63. These are all great problems to have if your Hovland as he enjoyed a career year that featured three victories, a Ryder Cup win and four major top 20s. If his short-game improvements continue, he will be in store for another great year. | |
| 3 | |
| McIlroy is the lone upper echelon PGA Tour player to skip The Sentry as he historically gets going in Dubai towards the end of January. Last we saw him, the Northern Irishman was capturing his fifth Race to Dubai title and enjoying a Ryder Cup where he garnered a 4-1-0 record, a new personal best. These last two years have been among the best of his career in terms of total strokes gained and top-20 percentage as he claimed such results 87% of the time in 2022 and 73% of the time in 2023. Another multiple-win year is all but certain for McIlroy if he continues to get in the mix at that rate, but will he break his major drought? | |
| 4 | |
| Morikawa experienced the best statistical season of his career in 2023 despite not cashing a winner's check for the vast majority of it. He broke a two-year winless drought with a dominating performance at the 2023 Zozo Championship and now has his sights on revenge for his Sentry breakdown a year ago. Morikawa will remain one of if not the best iron player in the world in 2024, and if the putter continues to show a pulse, the wins will continue to come. | |
| 5 | |
| A middling spring set the stage for a tremendous summer and fall for Homa. Currently amid a stretch of eight straight top-15 finishes around the world, Homa nabbed the Nedbank Challenge on the DP World Tour in November. This came on the heels of a memorable Ryder Cup performance for the U.S. side and yet another top-10 result in the FedEx Cup. He has quietly become one of the best putters in the world to go along with his stellar tee-to-green game. Major contention is the logical next step. | |
| 6 | |
| Cantlay finished fifth in the FedEx Cup despite not winning a tournament in 2023. Of those who played in more than 15 tournaments, he ranked first in birdie average, first in par-5 scoring, second in par-4 scoring, second in strokes gained off the tee and second in strokes gained tee to green. Simply put, Cantlay was fantastic last season. The bad bounces and lip outs will eventually go his way, and when they do, he will have hardware to show for it. | |
| 7 | |
| It has been 20 months since Schauffele has missed a cut with his last coming at the 2022 Masters. While he did not enter the winner's circle in 2023 like his good friend, Cantlay, Schauffele made significant strides in his game. The former Olympic gold medalist ranked third in strokes gained approach and fifth in strokes gained putting, capping his season with a runner-up result at East Lake. The driver can still betray him every now and again, but he remains a weekly threat to win. | |
| 8 | |
| Fitzpatrick's 2023 was a lot like his personality, quiet yet impressive. The Englishman won a signature event, was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team and won on the DP World Tour to end the calendar year. In his last seven starts, Fitzpatrick has a win and four other top-10 finishes including a runner-up result to Hovland at the BMW Championship. Compared to 2022, he took a step back with the big stick in hand, but he made up for it with a nice year with the flat stick. | |
| 9 | |
| Fleetwood holds the unfortunate title of best player without a win on the PGA Tour. He came awfully close of shedding this moniker in 2023 with a playoff loss at the Canadian Open, a run at The Open and a podium finish at the St. Jude Championship. He brushed himself off and got back on the horse with a sixth-place finish at the BMW PGA Championship and another runner up at the DP World Tour Championship. The 32-year-old is too good to remain winless for much longer. | |
| 10 | |
| Åberg is arguably the hottest player in the world with eight straight top 15s worldwide since August. During this stretch, the Swedish superstar has won on the DP World Tour, on the PGA Tour and in the Ryder Cup while smashing records along the way. He is a generational driver of the golf ball and put together baffling numbers in his 11 PGA Tour starts in 2023. Åberg will experience a number of firsts in 2024 (major championships, signature events, etc.), but he has shown he is up to the task. | |
| 11 | |
| There is plenty of hype around new emerging players, but let's not forget about the 21-year-old. Kim successfully defended his title at the Shriners Children's Open in his only PGA Tour start of the fall and upped his win total to three. This came after an impressive major season that saw Kim finish T16 at the Masters, T8 at the U.S. Open and T2 at The Open. He rides nine straight top 25s into the new year. | |
| 12 | |
| He's about to take the PGA Tour by storm. Bursting onto the scene with a top five at the Players Championship, Lee went onto rattle off nice results at the U.S. Open and the Travelers Championship before returning to his winning ways. A victory on the Asian Tour preceded a win in his native land at the Australian PGA Championship. Lee nearly pulled off the Aussie double but had to settle for third at the Australian Open the following week. | |
| 13 | |
| It was a summer to remember for Harman. Claiming The Open in record fashion and participating in the Ryder Cup, the former Georgia Bulldogs star impressed on golf's biggest stages. What he does for an encore will be interesting, but his driving accuracy, short game and putting will keep him afloat in between surges with the iron play. | |
| 14 | |
| The Englishman had the best statistical season of his career as he returned to the gym and made it an emphasis to get back in shape. Hatton's hard work was rewarded with podium finishes at the Players Championship, Wells Fargo Championship, Canadian Open and BMW PGA Championship. He was held winless in 2023 primarily due to sluggish starts. | |
| 15 | |
| It's not a stretch to suggest this is one of the most important seasons of Spieth's career. Out of the valley that was 2019-20, the 30-year-old has a real chance to start the second half of his career with a bang. Despite not raising a trophy in 2023, Spieth was trending well before injuring his wrist and back at the Wells Fargo Championship with a fourth-place finish at the Masters and playoff loss at the RBC Heritage. He's healthy and expectations are for that type of form to return on a consistent basis. | |
| 16 | |
| Cole changed his life in 2023 and became the poster child for the "play better" crowd. Without status on the PGA Tour to begin the year, the 35-year-old came onto the scene with a playoff loss at the Honda Classic. He parlayed this into full-time status, 10 top 20s and a résumé potentially worthy of Rookie of the Year honors. Cole was dominant in the FedEx Cup Fall with four top-fives finishes in five outings. | |
| 17 | |
| Straka is such an interesting player heading into 2024. The big Austrian notched his second victory at the John Deere Classic, grabbed a top 10 at the PGA Championship and a runner-up finish at The Open. Since then, he was apart of the winning Ryder Cup side and finished second to Scheffler in The Bahamas. His ceiling is as high as they come, it will just be about reaching it more often than not. | |
| 18 | |
| Henley is perhaps the most underrated golfer on the PGA Tour. Since March, he has claimed 13 top 20s in 16 starts with a quiet top five at the Masters and a near victory at the Wyndham Championship. The 34-year-old finished the year ranked first in terms of driving accuracy and second in terms of proximity. | |
