Absent at La Quinta, Rory McIlroy could give up his world number 1 throne to two players. There is even a unique scenario where both contenders end up with exactly the same number of points!
The performance of Scottie Scheffler et Patrick Cantlay will be very popular this week in California. engaged in The American Express on the 3 courses of the PGA West of La Quintathe two players ranked 2nd and 5th respectively today can take the world No. 1 spot…
But according to the Irish world ranking specialist who rages as Nosferatu on Twitterthere is an incredible possibility that Scheffler and Cantlay would reach the same number of points and thus share the throne!
????BREAKING
As things stand now, if Patrick Cantlay wins @theamexgolf and Scottie Scheffler finishes solo 8th, those two could share the No.1 place in the world rankings and Rory will drop to #3… #OWGR
(that will change if there are further changes in the field)
— Nosferatu (@VC606) January 17, 2023
Obviously, this would be a first in the history of this classification in force since 1986.
If Cantlay finishes 1st and Scheffler finishes 8th alone then the two Americans can claim to be the best player in the world but tied!
Rahm still excluded from the race for the throne
Rory McIlroy would then find themselves demoted to third place and Jon Rahmalso present this week in California, would retain its current 4th place.
Note that if last minute packages occur, the quality of the field and therefore the number of points involved would be affected and the scenario of a perfect equality would become unrealizable.
At last, the new world ranking calculation system based on the quality of the field of players will again lend itself to criticism. Indeed, while Cantlay, 5th in the world rankings, can seize the throne, this will not be the case for the one who has preceded him since Monday, the Spaniard Jon Rahm.
Even a ninth victory over the PGA Tour this week will not allow the Basque, very upset against the new calculation algorithmto become world No. 1 again when with the old system he could have claimed to sit at the top of the hierarchy again.
©Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP
