Scottie Scheffler was ranked ahead of Rory McIlroy for most of 2025. It was a year in which McIlroy won three times on the PGA Tour and once on the DP World Tour.
By the time 2026 came around, Scheffler had widened the gap further with six wins including two major titles.
Even though McIlroy was strong early in 2026, it was Scheffler who took control as the season went on.
“I think a lot more positive than they were six years ago,” said McIlroy. “I mean, look, I’m really pleased with my week. I wish I had been closer to Scottie going into today and been able to make a real push.”
The Masters champion knows he still has work to do if he’s going to reclaim the top spot from McIlroy. But with both players pushing each other every season, their rivalry looks set to continue for years to come.
Rory McIlroy just showed why he can catch Scottie Scheffler in 2026
Even though he started slow, McIlroy is sitting in a strong spot after rounds of 66 and 69 in Dubai. The highlight, though, might have been his second round. He shot three-under despite hitting just nine greens in regulation and ranking near the bottom of the field in that category.
McIlroy was second overall for putting on Friday, which helped him find a way to keep his round together when it could have easily slipped away.
A year ago, a similar performance would likely have resulted in a score closer to 74. This time around he walked off with a two-under 69. It’s another sign that he’s tightening up those areas of his game.
What sets Scheffler apart is his ability to shoot under par even when his game isn’t sharp. We saw it at the Procore Championship earlier this year where he turned what should have been an average round into a solid start and then went on to win the event by one shot.
If McIlroy can keep grinding out scores like this when things aren’t perfect, it could close the gap between him and Scheffler over the course of next season. The small improvements are starting to add up.
Paul McGinley shares thoughts on Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler
McGinley spoke about McIlroy’s second round during Sky Sports’ coverage of the DP World Tour Championship. He highlighted how significant McIlroy’s 69 was, even if it didn’t look as polished as his opening round.
“Even if he shot 71, 72 or 73, he would have been further off the lead and had more work to do. The fact that he still broke 70 doing that (playing poorly) and managing his bad golf. You don’t come out and play as well as you did yesterday every single time, even if you’re Rory McIlroy.”
He said: “The big key, and Scottie Scheffler is a great example of this too, is managing your rounds. Jack Nicklaus talked about this a lot in his career. Managing bad golf. He reckons he won 80 per cent of his tournaments playing poorly.
“So there is a skillset in doing that. Rory hasn’t had that all of his career of course he hasn’t but he’s so experienced now, he’s able to play as poorly as he did today and still shoot 69. You know he’s going to pick up something over the weekend.
“So today was impressive in a different way. Yesterday was a Rolls Royce performance, today was a bit of a Fiesta, a smaller car that was backfiring but he still managed to get where he needed to get to.”
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