GOLF
Who is golf’s number one after Xander Schauffele’s victory at the 2024 British Open?
Schauffele won his second major in two months at Royal Troon, making up ground on rankings rivals Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Move over Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele is the man of the moment in the world of golf. Although the former has won six times in 16 events on the PGA Tour in 2024, the latter has now won two of the last three majors, following up his PGA Championship victory in May by triumphing at the 2024 British Open at Royal Troon on Sunday.
Schauffele was six shots off the lead after round two on Saturday, but a 69-65 finish saw him leapfrog and pull away from Scheffler, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and others over the weekend to win by two shots.
The 30-year-old becomes the latest in a long line of Americans to lift the Claret Jug, and took home a cool $3.1 million in prize money for his efforts over the four days.
Except it’s not quite move over Scottie Scheffler just yet.
Who is golf’s world No. 1 after The Open 2024?
Unusually for him, the two-time Masters champion was unable to break 70 in his four rounds at Troon, although he was only actually over par on Sunday, when he shot a one-over 72. Scheffler remains way out in front at the top of the world rankings as a result of his considerable achievements in the last few months, although there is a new man directly chasing him.
Schauffele’s victory in Scotland, coupled with Rory McIlroy missing the cut, has seen the Californian overtake the Northern Irishman into the no. 2 spot. There are no changes elsewhere in the top 10, although some of the best performers at the Open Championship have been rewarded with a world rankings rise.
Official World Golf Ranking top 10 after the 2024 British Open
| Ranking | Player | Average points | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler | 17.9949 | 791.77598 |
| 2 | Xander Schauffele | 11.1330 | 478.71920 |
| 3 | Rory McIlroy | 9.0561 | 416.58269 |
| 4 | Ludwig Aberg | 6.1271 | 245.08408 |
| 5 | Wyndham Clark | 5.8660 | 299.16405 |
| 6 | Collin Morikawa | 5.8070 | 267.12357 |
| 7 | Victor Hovland | 5.2011 | 239.25271 |
| 8 | Patrick Cantlay | 5.0953 | 203.81341 |
| 9 | Bryson DeChambeau | 4.8492 | 193.96988 |
| 10 | Jon Rahn | 4.7288 | 189.15265 |
Russell Henley, who finished fifth, is up eight places to no. 12, while Sung-jae Im, who tied for seventh, moves up six to 18th.
A little further down, Horschel (new world No. 33) and Rose (no. 34) have jumped 29 and 33 places respectively, with South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence now 71st having started the Open in 98th spot.