Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg hit world ranking highs

Scottie Scheffler won the thing that counts the most — the green jacket — but Ludvig Aberg of Sweden and Xander Schauffele had nice consolation prizes in the Official World Golf Ranking standings.

Aberg’s runner-up finish at the Masters on Sunday moved him up two spots to No. 7 in the OWGR this week, another career best for the 24-year-old rising star.

Schauffele managed an eighth-place finish at Augusta and also rose by two spots, passing Jon Rahm and Wyndham Clark to get to No. 3 in the world.

Schauffele finished the week 1 under and notched his 12th career top-10 at a major. He spent the first two rounds at Augusta playing with Scheffler and Rory McIlroy — a group that now encapsulates the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 players in the world ranking.

Rahm had not fallen in the OWGR since joining LIV Golf, which does not award rankings points for its events. The 2023 Masters champion made the cut this week but tied for 45th at 9 over. Clark, last year’s U.S. Open champ, missed the cut at Augusta.

Max Homa returned to the top 10 after tying for third, his best career finish at a major. Homa moved up two spots to No. 9. Collin Morikawa also tied for third and jumped seven places to No. 13, which is where he began the calendar year.

Then there is Tiger Woods, who finished 72 holes of an official event for the first time since the 2023 Genesis Invitational. Woods made his record 24th straight cut at the Masters before going 82-77 on the weekend and finishing 16 over, last of the 60 players to make the cut.

Still, it was enough for the 15-time major winner to jump 175 spots in the OWGR, from No. 959 to No. 784.

Scheffler remained No. 1 for the 48th consecutive week and grew his lead over McIlroy to a whopping 6.3373 average points.