World No. 1 on the line as Rory McIlroy eyes Scottie Scheffler’s ranking at CJ Cup

The world No. 1 ranking is up for grabs this week at Congaree.

Rory McIlroy, who enters the CJ Cup ranked second in the Official World Golf Ranking, has a chance to unseat No. 1 Scottie Scheffler depending on how the two players finish in the limited-field event in Ridgeland, South Carolina.

According to Twitter’s resident OWGR guru, Nosferatu, McIlroy, who sits at 8.81 average points, needs a win or solo second and some “help” from Scheffler, at 9.39, to reach No. 1 for the first time since July 2020.

McIlroy has strung together five straight top-8 finishes, including a victory at the Tour Championship, where he spotted Scheffler six shots before taking down the reigning Masters champion. Scheffler, meanwhile, hasn’t played an individual tournament since East Lake, though he did compete in the Presidents Cup, where he went a disappointing 0-3-1.

In other OWGR news, Keegan Bradley rose from No. 44 to No. 23 following his Zozo Championship victory. It’s the first time that Bradley has been ranked inside the top 25 since August 2014.

Brooks Koepka won the LIV Golf event in Jeddah, though with no world-ranking points up for grabs, Koepka fell two spots to No. 35.

And your weekly Tiger Woods update: Woods is now No. 1,218, sandwiched between Vitor Londot Lopes and Jack Slater.