Power 18 Golf Rankings: McIlroy, Young Gain on Scheffler

The Power 18 golf rankings: Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young inch closer to overtaking Scottie Scheffler

The top of the golf world has tightened over the last few months, setting up a sizzling summer

By Patrick McDonald

May 4, 2026 at 11:27 am ET • 8 min read

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Four months into the 2026 season, four golfers have separated themselves from the rest. While Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have claimed permanent residence in the outer reaches, a pair of newcomers have gobbled up property in the neighborhood -- and they are looking to own, not rent.

While the top two players in the game remain in the top two spots (it takes more than a couple of months of play to evict them), Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick are making their marches. Both players have won multiple times this season: Fitzpatrick leading the PGA Tour with three victories, and Young claiming two significant wins at The Players Championship and Cadillac Championship.

Although they have not encroached on the top two spots in this iteration of The Power 18 golf rankings, they have passed everyone else on their way into the top five.

Two-time major champions Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele are both stuck in holding patterns, albeit for different reasons: Morikawa hopes to get healthier and healthier by the week (he withdrew from the forthcoming Truist Championship), and Schauffele looks to seriously contend in a tournament before the PGA Championship.

LIV Golf members Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau continue to dust the field in their respective circuit (which still exists ... right?), but a major step back was taken at the first major championship of the season.

Other winners this season, like Chris Gotterup and Justin Rose, have lacked some consistency compared to their peers, but their upside remains undeniable in the race to become the best player in the game.

The Power 18 provides insight into how golfers are currently performing with the benefit of 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

Scottie Scheffler Scheffler has lost to two players in regulation across his last three tournaments and has wound up with zero trophies. Running into buzzsaws in the form of McIlroy, Fitzpatrick and Young, the world No. 1 is taking punches from those immediately below him in the rankings, but he remains the mainstay in those bouts. After his ball striking took a dip in early March, Scheffler looked much more like Scheffler in April. The wins will follow as his three runner-up results in a row is something that has not been seen on the PGA Tour since 2014. 2

Rory McIlroy Everyone knew McIlroy was going to have a more intentional schedule moving forward, but the Masters champion has completed just four tournaments so far this season. This includes the successful defense at Augusta National and a close call at Riviera as he starts to ramp up his playing calendar going into the summer. He makes his return at Quail Hollow where he has won four times and experienced an odd PGA Championship in 2025. 3

Cameron Young In his last 15 worldwide starts, Young has 10 top-10 finishes, seven top-five results and three wins with the latest coming in dominating fashion at Trump National Doral. The putting is vastly improved, but the strides The Players Championship winner has taken with his mental game cannot go overlooked. There is a patience and an acceptance about himself that was not there a couple years ago, and oh yeah, a complete game, too. 4

Matt Fitzpatrick He seemingly improves by the week as Fitzpatrick leads the PGA Tour with three wins this season, the last of which came alongside his brother Alex. Fitzpatrick's iron play has risen to new heights thanks to a more upright swing path as his name rises on the leaderboard at every big tournament. He is the most well-rounded player from tee to green and the putting is beginning to cooperate after a cool West Coast Swing. 5

Xander Schauffele Schauffele has seven straight top-25 finishes, the last four of which have doubled as top-15 efforts. He continues to find a home on the first and second pages of the leaderboard, but he is falling back into some bad habits of making the backdoor efforts a common occurrence. He is striking the ball almost as well as he did in 2024, but he will need his short game to take a step in the right direction if he is to mimic those results from two years ago. 6

Jon Rahm It's a big plunge down the board for just one bad start, but Rahm needs to show it in a full field with the best players in the world. The Spaniard cleans up on LIV Golf every time they decide to hold a tournament as he won in Mexico following a disappointing Masters where he was busy battling the cutline and not McIlroy and Scheffler. It will be interesting to see how he plays with LIV Golf's future up in the air. 7

Ludvig Åberg Sunday struggles have put a damper on an otherwise impressively consistent season for Åberg. The young Swede has four top-five finishes in his last five tournaments with a couple of those featuring him as the frontrunner going into the final round with no success. Åberg's short game is in a much tidier spot compared to years past and should theoretically raise those floor performances which have hindered him in big tournaments.  8

Collin Morikawa He could have maybe been higher, but the health remains a question mark for the two-time major champion. Pulling out of the Players with a back injury, Morikawa has not looked the same since, although the results have been admirable. He finished inside the top 10 at both the Masters and RBC Heritage, but he showed at Trump National Doral something may still be up health wise as he finished outside the top 60. 9

Bryson DeChambeau Speaking of health, the last time DeChambeau was on a golf course he was complaining about the conditions and ultimately his wrist. He missed the final round at LIV Golf Mexico City the week after he missed the cut at the Masters where expectations were sky high. The two-time U.S. Open champion has a couple wins on LIV Golf's friendlier layouts, but the driver can only take him so far. 10

Tommy Fleetwood It has been a quiet month from Fairway Jesus as he is without a top-20 finish since the beginning of April. Fleetwood has taken a step back in all aspects of the game during this time, but don't be surprised if he starts to round the corner in short order. The reigning FedEx Cup champion is experiencing his worst iron season in five years, so once that bounces back so will he. 11

Justin Rose Speaking of iron play. Rose made the decision to ditch his gamers and go with McLaren for a new set of irons and early returns were not positive at Trump National Doral where he finished near the bottom of the leaderboard. This volatility is the new norm for Rose, though, as he has five finishes outside the top 30 and three finishes inside the top 15. The good news is those results came at the Farmers Insurance Open (win), Players Championship (T13) and Masters (T3). 12

Patrick Reed Similar to McIlroy, Reed is not playing a whole lot of golf at the moment. After winning two times across the first two months on the DP World Tour, Reed has played in one tournament since the first week of March. That was, of course, the Masters where he was in contention heading into the weekend before trailing off for a T12 result. Curious how the lack of competitive reps will affect his sharpness down the line. 13

Russell Henley There is a world where Henley is your 2026 Masters champion. You may not like it, you make not want to believe it, but the 37-year-old was a few revolutions away from slipping on the green jacket. The way he struck the ball at Augusta National was flat out impressive and continued a run this season where he has not tapered off despite his lack of length compared to the big dogs. Firm and fast layouts continue to be his calling card. 14

Chris Gotterup One of three multiple-time winners on the PGA Tour this season, Gotterup's game has leveled out since his hot start. His iron play has been good not great, and thus the results have been too with a T24 in his Masters debut and T25 at the RBC Heritage. There is some short-game stuff that may be holding him back, but once his approach play sharpens it will take care of a lot of that. 15

Si Woo Kim The best player on the PGA Tour without a win this season may very well be Kim. He has five top-six finishes including two in his last two starts at Harbour Town Golf Links and Trump National Doral. The aggression he plays with from tee to green seems to abandon him on the greens in the final rounds where he has been in the final group three times already this year. Once he holes putts more consistently under the gun, he will return to the winner's circle. 16

Hideki Matsuyama It has been a little forgettable since his playoff loss at the WM Phoenix Open, but the bones of Matsuyama's game remain in good shape. The iron play is as strong as ever, the short game is always going to be reliable, and he is actually making some putts this year. Like in Scottsdale, Matsuyama's driver is handcuffing him. Once he figures it out, he will start contending more regularly and do better than his T12 at the Masters. 17

Jake Knapp Another injury concern (how many is that in this list?) with Knapp. He pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to his back and just withdrew from the Cadillac Championship due to his wrist. In between the bandages, he has played the best golf of his career with seven top-11 finishes already to his name in 2026. Outside of a brutal performance at Harbour Town, Knapp's putting has been lights out. 18

Robert MacIntyre The Masters seemed to halt a lot of momentum both for MacIntyre and those who root for him. It was a disappointing week in more than one way, but the left hander returns to competition at Quail Hollow where he will look to summon his pre-Masters form. MacIntyre finished runner up at the Texas Open and inside the top five at the Players Championship. He gained strokes on approach in both of those tournaments. In the four prior and two after, he bled to the field in that category.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/power-18-golf-rankings-rory-mcilroy-cameron-young-scottie-scheffler/)._