Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have maintained a firm grip on the top two spots in the Official World Golf Ranking for more than a year now, ever since Xander Schauffele lost his No. 2 spot to McIlroy last March.
Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose have factored into “Who’s No. 3?” discussion with Schauffele over that time period but, as the 2026 Tour season has taken shape over, the debate has been narrowed down two new entrants: Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Each would have a perfectly good case for who’s playing the best golf on the planet at the moment. Fitzpatrick has won three of the last four events he’s played in (Valspar Championship, RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic), while Young is very close to securing a win at Doral and proved victorious over Fitzpatrick at this year’s Players Championship.
One could look to next week’s Truist Championship to see who sportsbooks think has the edge between the two but without Scheffler in that field AND odds up for the PGA Championship at Aronimink (courtesy of DraftKings), now’s as good as time as any to analyze just how close Fitzpatrick and Young are to one another, and how far they remain off McIlroy and Scheffler in future markets.
It also is a good point of comparison not only to the OWGR leaders but also to other players considered as possible No. 3s — or even No. 2s or No. 1s depending on who you’re discussing the topic: Bryson DeChambeau (World No. 28) and Jon Rahm (World No. 20). Both LIV golfers will be teeing off with the rest of the field Thursday, May, 14.
USPGA Championship 2026 tournament winner odds (as of Monday, May 3)
- Scottie Scheffler (+380)
- Rory McIlroy (+650)
- Bryson DeChambeau (+1000)
- Jon Rahm (+1200)
- Xander Schauffele (+1600)
- Cameron Young (+1600)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+2000)
- Ludvig Åberg (+2000)
- Collin Morikawa (+2200)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+2500)
- Justin Thomas (+2500)
- Brooks Koepka (+3300)
- Justin Rose (+3500)
- Tyrrell Hatton (+3500)
- Viktor Hovland (+3500)
PGA Championship odds analysis
It’s a fools errands to offer winners this far in advance but the +2000 number on Fitzpatrick is both notable and the reason why we are here: Why is it higher than Young or Schauffele? All the stats indicate these are the three same players, with Fitzpatrick showing a narrow edge in shots gained around the green on Young despite the results in Ponte Vedra Beach this year.
Moreover, the sportsbooks are pricing the world’s third-ranked player (for now) exactly in line with Åberg. The 2024 Masters runner-up has never ascended to those heights (his highest ranking is No. 4), and despite a strong run recently: there’s nothing in his season this year that says he’s in the same vicinity as Fitzpatrick.
We’ll just have to see how that head-to-head matchup plays out in 10 days time.
As for the Fitzpatrick-Young question, it does seem clear at first look that DeChambeau and Rahm are still considered in a tier higher based on the above odds. And that’s despite the ongoing drama happening with LIV Golf.
No amount of negative press can deny that DeChambeau and Rahm have each won twice on the circuit this year. They did both struggle in Augusta, with DeChambeau failing to make the cut and Rahm finishing T-38.
Hatton, who finished T-3 at the Masters, gives LIV a third name on the short favorites list at Aronimink.
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