Before Scottie Scheffler came into the mix, the golfing world was ruled by Rory McIlroy. However, things started to change drastically when Scheffler became the World No. 1 back in March 2022. Displaying some stellar performances, the American golfer has now established himself as one of the most dominant golfers of the modern day. Continuing his upward surge, Scheffler recently came from behind to win his 20th PGA Tour event at the recently concluded The American Express. And as he cherishes his triumph, Scheffler is also widening the gap with McIlroy to the point of almost no return. 

“The gap between world number one Scottie Scheffler and number two Rory McIlroy is greater than the gap between Rory and world number 58 Matt McCarty,” said Charlie Hulme in a discussion with Smylie Kaufman in The Smylie Show. 

Looking at the OWGR points, the sorry state of affairs is pretty much evident. Currently, the World No. 2, McIlroy, stands at 411.036 points. On the contrary, fresh from a brilliant AmEx win, the 29-year-old golfer has a whopping 695.322 points to his name. And that’s not all. To make things further gloomy for the Northern Irish golfer, Jason Sobel pointed out that the average point difference between Scheffler and McIlroy is ‘the same as the differential between McIlroy and Kyungnam Kang, who’s ranked 677th.’

Moreover, analyzing Scheffler’s recent streak of being at the No. 1 position, Hulme stated, “Scottie at the beginning of this week began his 140th consecutive week as the World No. 1. He’s just under halfway to Tiger’s record of 281 weeks in a row, which means he’d have that record on Monday, October 16th, 2028 if he kept up the streak.”

Chiming in on the debate of how dominant Scheffler has been of late, Kaufman pulled out some insane statistics. Kaufman stated that even if Scheffler opted to sit out for the rest of the season, and McIlroy somehow won five consecutive Players Championships in the meantime, the World No. 2 would still be unable to topple Scheffler from the golf summit.

Notably, as the difference between the two stalwarts of the game is cracking open, McIlroy seems to be going through a rough phase. After all, following years of domination in Dubai, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic 2026 came as a heartbreak for the 36-year-old.

Top Stories

Multiple PGA Tour Pros Withdraw From Farmers Insurance Open Days Before It Begins

‘Unreal’: Amanda Balionis Left Stunned by Scottie Scheffler at The American Express

LIV Golf Pro Has $500K Winnings Taken Away After Rules Violation Is Caught by Officials

Scottie Scheffler Joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus With Remarkable $9.2M PGA Tour Event Victory

Patrick Reed Willing to End Rory McIlroy Feud Using Bizarre Measure Years After ‘Tee-Gate’

Rory McIlroy suffers rare off week at the familiar Dubai Desert Classic

Rory McIlroy’s relationship with the Dubai Desert Classic has long felt like a comfortable tradition. Since 2009, he had consistently finished at the top of the leaderboard, never ending the tournament worse than tied for 10th and always posting a score of at least 2-under par. Even during his “worst” visit in that period, back in 2011, McIlroy still managed a T10 finish.

However, the narrative changed this year, which Sky Sports bluntly summed up by stating, “a week to forget in the desert.”

McIlroy struggled to find his rhythm at the Emirates Golf Club right from the outset. The shots that normally come easily to him didn’t. Mistakes crept in, and he kept on losing his hold on the momentum. And unfortunately, instead of improving, the week slowly slipped away. By the time the tournament wrapped up, the numbers told an unfamiliar story. McIlroy recorded his worst ever result at the Dubai Desert Classic since 2008.

The Northern Irish golfer concluded the Hero Dubai Desert Classic tied for 33rd with a 2-under par score. Notably, Patrick Reed claimed victory, courtesy a total score of 14 under par.

Although the second event of 2026 saw McIlroy face a setback, he finished the Dubai Invitational at T3. And now he would look forward to defending his title at the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am starting on February 12 on the greens of Spyglass Hill Golf Course.