Jon Rahm has a list of players right on his heels as it pertains to the top spot in the world rankings, but don’t tell him that.
“I had no idea until right now, so…” Rahm said Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, where he’ll again put his world No. 1 status on the line when The Players Championship begins in two days.
“You should ask if I want to know those things or not,” Rahm said with a smile.
For the record, four players can overtake Rahm atop the Official World Golf Ranking this week – No. 2 Collin Morikawa, No. 3 Viktor Hovland, No. 4 Patrick Cantlay and No. 5 Scottie Scheffler, who is coming off a victory Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his second win in three starts.
Full-field scores from The Players Championship
Per Twitter’s resident OWGR guru Nosferatu, Scheffler moves to No. 1 with a win, a Rahm finish worse than solo 10th and a Morikawa finish worse than a three-way tie for second.
Cantlay goes to No. 1 with a victory and Rahm T-2 or worse. He could also finish solo second provided that Scheffler and Hovland do not win, Morikawa finishes worse than solo fourth and Rahm worse than solo 37th.
If Hovland wins, he will be No. 1 as long as Rahm finishes worse than solo third. He can also reach No. 1 with a solo runner-up as long as Scheffler or Cantlay do not win, Morikawa finishes worse than solo fourth and Rahm worse than solo 50th.
There are many scenarios, according to Nosferatu, for Morikawa to supplant Rahm as No. 1. A victory would be enough on its own, but Morikawa could technically take over the top spot with as little as a two-way tie for fourth.
“Even if you’re No. 1, you’ve still got to perform every week,” said Rahm, who is winless since his U.S. Open victory but does have seven top-10s and an unofficial T-1 at the Tour Championship since his major breakthrough at Torrey Pines. “I’m chasing people myself, as well, so no, I don’t feel like I’m being chased.”