Scottie Scheffler surpasses Rory McIlroy with big new feat in OWGR history

Scottie Scheffler has surpassed Roy McIlroy for most weeks as the world No. 1 in golf. He still has a long way to go to set the record held by Tiger Woods, who has spent an astonishing 683 weeks.

Nevertheless, Scheffler has surpassed Rory McIlroy, who has spent 122 weeks atop the OWGR leaderboard for the fourth-most weeks in OWGR history. McIlroy, Scheffler and Jon Rahm spent time trading places atop the OWGR leaderboard late in 2023 until Scheffler took it and never looked back.

Scheffler has kept everyone at more than arm's length on the leaderboard. His historic 2024 season was enough to push himself way up the ranks. Even Xander Schauffele, who won two Majors last year, couldn't come close.

The World No. 1 has 15.445 average points, which is 6.4672 ahead of Schauffele. That's the same difference between the World No. 2 and World No. 29 Maverick McNealy.

There's a huge gap for Scheffler, big enough that he could continue to rack up a few more weeks at the World No. 1 spot aand rise up the all-time leaderboard.

He's currently not playing, as he's rehabbing from a hand injury suffered around the time he won the Hero World Challenge. Once he returns, he will look to earn more points and extend the gap between himself and the rest of the field.

---

Scottie Scheffler opens up on return to action

Scottie Scheffler hasn't played a PGA Tour event in 2025. He's unsure if he's going to play at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this weekend.

Nevertheless, he feels good, according to NBC Sports, but isn't yet ready to play. Scheffler said:

“Just want to make sure I’m getting back to normal, progressing the right way in recovery. I’m definitely anxious to get back, excited to get back, but I’m also not going to rush back just to rush back.”

Scottie Scheffler suffered a puncture wound from broken glass on Christmas and eventually had surgery to fix it. He said this week that he was making ravioli when the incident occurred.

Scottie Scheffler isn't ready to return yet (Image via Getty)

The American initially expected to be out for three to four weeks before returning to action, but he wasn't ready to play last weekend's American Express and had to withdraw.

Scheffler is continuing to work out, focusing on his lower body, as he said:

“It was pretty unusual for me not to be able to do much in the gym. I was still able to get in there and do some movement stuff and some of the stuff I usually do with my legs, but as far as upper body goes, I’m not going to go and just work out the left side of my body and come into the season walking like this (leaning to right side).”

Scheffler could tee off on Thursday if he recovers and feels healthy enough to play.