Weekly PGA Recap: Scottie Remains Scorching Hot

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

It was the moment golf fans had been awaiting for months, one that the entire PGA Tour season had seemingly been building up to after so many underwhelming tournaments and results: Four elite golfers -- all ranked in the top-10 in the world -- were going toe-to-toe on the back nine on Sunday in one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 5 Wyndham Clark, No. 6 Xander Schauffele  and No. 9 Brian Harman were battling it out in THE PLAYERS Championship, the so-called fifth major.

There was a real sense of drama, clearly the most in golf since the Ryder Cup some six months earlier.

Fittingly, it came down to the final shots.

With Scheffler already in the clubhouse at 20-under, Harman, Schauffele and ultimately Clark all missed birdie putts on 18 -- Clark's cruelly went halfway in and then horseshoed out -- leaving them all one shot shy of Scheffler, who became the first golfer in the 50-year history of THE PLAYERS to win back-to-back titles.

Scheffler roared back from five shots down to start the day at TPC Sawgrass by shooting an 8-under 64 to leave no doubt that he is far and away the best player in the world right now.

Of course, that was evident a week ago after he blitzed an elite field to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, so this win only made it more … what's a word that's more evident than evident?

This week, Scheffler was not even at full strength after he suffered a neck injury that surfaced on Friday. He disclosed on Sunday that midway through the second round, he wasn't sure he'd be able to continue.

That may be why he was able to only lead the field for the week in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, rank seventh in Approach and sixth in around-the-Green (#sarcasm). He also ranked 37th with his new putter in hand and, combined with the rest of his game, that's quite enough to hoist trophies week after week.

"We all had chances," said Harman, "and he just performed, he out-executed two or three more times than the rest of us."

And that's usually the difference between winning and finishing second.

With Scheffler having seemingly solved his putting issues, now with two big-boy wins in a row, the inevitable comparisons to Tiger Woods have once again surfaced.

"I think that's a funny question," he told the reporter who asked about Woods, not meaning any malice. "I'm not going to remember the exact numbers, but like we're playing at Riv this year, and I hit my tee ball and this guy yells out, like, 'Congrats on being No. 1 Scottie. 11 more years to go. 11 more years to go.'

"Anytime you can be compared to Tiger I think is really special, but, I mean, the guy stands alone I think in our game. He really does. This is my eighth tournament win now out here, I've tied him in PLAYERS Championships. Outside of that, I got 14 more majors and 70-some PGA TOUR events to catch up. So I think I'm going to stick to my routine and just continue to plod along, try and stay as even keeled as I can."

For every other golfer in the world, that's about the worst news possible.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Wyndham Clark
Clark lost in one of the most heartbreaking ways possible. He birdied 16, 17 and got robbed on 18. But it's clear he'll have many more chances, having shown he is among the very best in the world. He has finished second to Scheffler two weeks in a row (with a win at Pebble Beach). You could make a strong case he's the second best golfer in the world right, but he'll have to settle for No. 4 after passing Viktor Hovland.

Xander Schauffele
The win would've been the biggest of Schauffele's career. He had his chances, but his play down the stretch was telling. He missed fairways, he left putts short, he missed a seven-footer for birdie on 17. Schauffele is No. 5 in the world -- he also passed Hovland -- but his reputation is that of great golfer who is really great at coming close in the biggest of moments. He has 13 career runners-up.

Brian Harman
Surely many people thought Harman's Open Championship win was an aberration. And maybe it will be his lone major. But eight months later, he's still ranked in the top-10 in the world and still shows he can handle the biggest, most pressure-filled moments. Pound for pound and inch for inch, Harman is the best in the world – and it's not really close. This was his second top-5 and fourth top-20 so far in 2024.

Matt Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick tinkered with his driver early in the week, and it's safe to say it helped. A week after missing the cut at Bay Hill, where he has historically shined, Fitzpatrick finished solo fifth. He punctuated his week by birdieing the final four holes. If this driver situation was holding Fitzpatrick back during a slow start to 2024, watch out.

Hideki Matsuyama
It's clear Matsuyama is healthy again (for now) and it's clear he's the old Matsuyama again. After a win at Riviera and a T12 at Bay Hill, a tie for sixth moved him to No. 12 in the world. Matsuyama hadn't been that highly ranked in almost two years. In other words, pre-neck/back injury.

Si Woo Kim
The former PLAYERS champ tied for sixth, extending a good start to his season. Kim has not missed a cut in seven tournaments and has four top-25s.

Ludvig Aberg
In his Sawgrass debut, Aberg showed his game travels well, even to the hardest unknowns in golf. He finished solo eighth, giving him three top-10s on the season and a fifth top-25 in a row. The young Swede inched up to a career-best No. 9 OWGR.

Sahith Theegala
With a fourth top-10 already in 2024 – this one a tie for ninth – Theegala stands at No. 14 in the world, his personal best. That's ahead of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and other greats. It sure seems as if another win is coming for Theegala.

Maverick McNealy
Not only is McNealy completely back from last year's shoulder injury, he's now playing the best golf of his career. He's back inside the top-100 OWGR after tying for ninth. That was his second top-10 and third top-15 in his past four starts.

Joel Dahmen
We don't know whether Dahmen has hired a sports psychologist, as his wife and caddie implored him to do during the second season of "Full Swing" on Netflix, but he turned in his best showing of the season with a tie for 11th. He jumped from outside the top-200 in the world to No. 146.

Sam Ryder
Ryder set a PLAYERS Championship record with 27 birdies, and that lifted him to a tie for 16th place. And that came with a hideous closing six-hole stretch in which he had three bogeys and a double. Still, he's up to a career-best 101st in the world rankings. Ryder was a RotoWire pick at only $5,600 on DraftKings, the second time he's finished top-25 after we picked him with a price in the $5,000s.

Doug Ghim
Another week, another top-16 for Ghim. That's five in a row with this week's T16. A supreme ball-striker, he's perhaps finally putting everything together, Ghim is up to No. 118 in the world, his personal best.

Tom Hoge
Hoge started 67-69 and was on the first page of the leaderboard for a bit. He closed 75-75 and that is the peril in backing Hoge – rampant inconsistency. He tied for 55th.

The remaining golfers in this section stand out not only for their profile, but also because of their tough starts to 2024. They all made the cut at TPC Sawgrass but finished far back.

Rory McIlroy
McIlroy had a wild week. He recorded 26 birdies, which would've been a record if not for Ryder's 27. But he had 14 bogeys or doubles with five water balls. He still finished tied for 19th. McIlroy is doing a good job of compiling top-25s – he now has four in a row. But he is not about top-25s or even top-10s. His early-season schedule has increased in an effort to be ready for the Masters. We won't know if this plan works out for another month.

Collin Morikawa
Morikawa tied for 45th and remains stuck on one top-10 in six starts this season – a T5 to begin the year at the Sentry. He has two other top-20s and two missed cuts.

Tony Finau
Seven tournaments into 2024 for Finau and he has one top-10 after a T45 at Sawgrass.

Viktor Hovland
Hovland tied for 62rd and has yet to record a top-10 in five starts this season. In fact, his best finish was a tie for 19th at the Genesis.

Max Homa
Homa tied for 64th. He has one top-10 in seven starts this season, though he does have three other top-16 efforts.

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay has one top-10 in seven starts. He tied for 68th at Sawgrass and you have to wonder whether the added responsibilities of being on the Tour's Policy Board are contributing to the poor results.

Rickie Fowler
Fowler has made eight starts in 2024 and his best finish has been a tie for 35th at the Genesis. He tied for 68th at THE PLAYERS and it's becoming increasingly possible that last year's renaissance season was an isolated rebound.

MISSED CUTS

Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Keegan Bradley, Adam Hadwin, Nick Dunlap, Steve Stricker, Tom Kim, Garrick Higgo. There are a bunch of big names here, but that's always the case at THE PLAYERS. Zalatoris may be more of a surprise than Thomas and Spieth. … Hadwin had been one of only four guys in the field to finish top-25 at Sawgrass the past two years. … Dunlap has now missed three cuts in five starts since his Amex win as an amateur with no finish better than T48. … Stricker was bidding to make the cut at 57 years old but missed by two strokes. … Kim (illness) and Higgo (wrist) withdrew on Thursday and Friday, respectively.