Scottie Scheffler, 30, remains world number one but has not won since January. Of his 20 tour victories, 75% came when leading after 54 holes, yet this season he has not held a share of the third-round lead. At the 3M Open he shot 63 to finish second, three shots behind Koivun, and has lost two playoffs to Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland after trailing entering Sunday.

Putting lapses and slow starts have hindered him. At The Open he missed seven birdie putts from 15 feet or less, ranking 60th on the greens. Nine times this year he opened with 70 or worse, forcing catch-up golf. Yet the PGA Tour ranks him fifth in putting for 2026.

Despite the winless streak, Scheffler dominates the FedEx Cup with a 795-point lead over Fitzpatrick. He has five runner-up finishes — only the second player in 40 years with that many — plus two thirds and 11 top-fives in 17 starts. The gap to Rory McIlroy in the world rankings equals the distance between McIlroy and Matt McCarty (67th).

Scheffler has held the top spot for nearly 166 weeks since May 2023. Tiger Woods' record of 281 weeks remains distant, but displacing Scheffler appears extraordinarily difficult.