Collin Morikawa back to No. 2 in world rankings

Collin Morikawa spent the late fall and winter trying to overtake Jon Rahm in the world rankings to reach the No. 1 spot.

With his fifth-place finish at the Masters last week, Morikawa finally passed Rahm. But it only got the Las Vegas golfer back to No. 2. The top spot is now a good distance away thanks to Scottie Scheffler’s last two months.

It’s been quite a rapid ascent for Scheffler, who ended last season at No. 24. A strong fall had him up to No. 14 when he arrived in Arizona two months ago.

A win at the Phoenix Open got him to ninth, a top-10 at Riviera moved him to sixth and a win at Bay Hill nudged him to fifth. He stayed there for three weeks until his victory at the Match Play vaulted him to No. 1.

Now with his dominant victory at the Masters, he has a stranglehold on the top spot. It will likely take a similar run from another top player to unseat him over the coming months.

Scheff’s kiss

Scheffler’s performance at Augusta was one of the most dominating performances in a major in recent years. Consider he took the lead on the eighth hole of the second round and never trailed for the final 46 holes of the tournament.

Here are some other numbers to ponder. Scheffler is:

— Fifth player to win at least four times including a major in one season since 2010, and he’s got five more months to add to that total.

— Second player to win four times in a season including a major and a World Golf Championship, joining only Tiger Woods on the list.

— First player to have four wins in a season by the Masters since David Duval in 1999.

Masters grab bag

— Reigning Shriners Children’s Open champion Sung Jae Im is often overlooked as one of the young stars on tour, but the 24-year-old is the real deal. His opening-round 67 was his 100th round of 67 or better since joining the tour in the 2018-19 season. The only players with more during that stretch are Justin Thomas (110) and Webb Simpson (102).

— The most surprising name missing from leaderboards all week might have been Rahm. He had top-10 finishes in four straight Masters before this year and top-10 finishes in every major since the 2020 U.S. Open, yet he was a non-factor and finished in a tie for 27th.

— Something is clearly wrong with Bryson DeChambeau. He hasn’t made a cut since August and wasn’t close at Augusta. His scorecard read 12 over for two rounds, missing the weekend by eight shots. This from the man who two years ago said — — — Augusta National is really a par 67 to a player with his length.

The Masters has always left something to be desired with its limited television coverage. The first two rounds don’t come on the air until seven hours after the first tee shot is hit. But Augusta leadership clearly stepped up their game with the best online experience of any tournament. Every shot in every round by every player could be found in real time on the website, a true win for golf fans.

Chip shots

UNLV sophomore Caden Fioroni had his best performance as a Rebel last week when he tied for seventh at 10-under 206 in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. As a team, the Rebels posted their lowest score of the season at 18 under. UNLV finished fifth in the event.

Las Vegas Golf Club will host the High Roller Scramble on April 24. The two-person scramble begins with a shotgun start at 7:45 a.m. Cost is $158 per team.

Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.