While trying to defend his championship at the Phoenix Open this weekend, Scottie Scheffler also has an eye on getting back to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Scheffler, who currently sits at No. 2, has a chance to reclaim the top spot this week when he tees off at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Ariz. Even though he’s aware the rankings sometimes don’t correlate to who is playing the best golf at a specific point in time, Scheffler would still like to improve his positioning.

“It’s just kind of one of those funny things. Right now I’m ranked No. 2, but I would say I’m not playing the second best golf in the world; I think Rory (McIlroy) and Jon (Rahm) are pretty much neck-and-neck for playing the best golf in the world right now, so the rankings are funny,” Scheffler said. “It’s just an algorithm.

“You don’t get any extra trophies or anything like that for having it for a short period of time, but it’s more of a reflection of other things, I’d say, but I don’t like being No. 2. I’d rather be No. 1.”

McIlroy currently sits at No. 1, while Rahm is at No. 3. Both join Scheffler in the field for the Phoenix Open, which begins Thursday and wraps up Sunday.

Scheffler, 26, earned his first championship on the Tour when he shot a 16-under 268 to defeat Patrick Cantlay in last year’s Phoenix Open. He has added three titles to his resume since then, including a victory at the Masters in 2022, but Phoenix still carries a little extra meaning.

“It’s good to be back in Phoenix. Got a lot of good memories here. Obviously it’s a special tournament for me being the first win, and it’s definitely a lot of fun to be back,” Scheffler said. “As far as this week goes, it’s exciting. This will be the second elevated event I’ve played this year, so great field this year, and should be fun.”

With a chance to be the first golfer to win the event in back-to-back years since Hideki Matsuyama did so in 2016-17, Scheffler is looking forward to competing in front of a passionate crowd.

“The golf course is in great shape. Greens are always really firm, and you’ve got to deal with the environment here, but it’s something you’ve got to embrace,” Scheffler said. “It’s a lot of fun. I think a few times a year being able to play with this big of a crowd is pretty special for us as players.”

–Field Level Media

Count Jon Rahm as one player who loves playing at the raucous Waste Management Phoenix Open, but even the World No. 3 prefers it in small doses — “it’s one week a year.”

Rahm made the comments Wednesday ahead of this week’s newly designated event at TPC Scottsdale. Rahm, the FedEx Cup leader, is among the top players in the world vying for the elevated $20 million purse and $3.6 million winner’s check.

He is one of 22 players among the top 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking in the field.

“I think this was a designated event before we ever knew what they were going to be,” Rahm said. “No matter what the purse is, this tournament is going to be what it is. Very few sporting events in the world can comfortably happen in the same week as the Super Bowl and still have the impact that they have like this one.”

Super Bowl LVII will take place Sunday in Glendale, 20 miles from Scottsdale.

“With that said, I don’t think it’s everybody’s favorite,” Rahm added. “I think either you love it or hate it. There’s no in between. With my case, I love it. I want to come every year.”

Rahm was asked if some players who fall on the hate side of it just don’t care for the craziness of the party atmosphere generated by hundreds of thousands of spectators.

“Whatever it may be, yeah. Since I came first time eight years ago … it’s gotten exponentially louder and louder. It’s been a significant difference every year. I get it,” Rahm said.

“(On) 16 last year when Justin Thomas chipped in, I didn’t want to see the water bottle coming straight for my head from the third story, but I did see it, so hopefully those are things they rein back on and keep it strictly about the game, but again, those are things people don’t want to deal with on a regular basis.

“It’s one week a year, so I think a lot of us welcome it for one week,” Rahm said.

–Field Level Media

Rory McIlroy said it was “sort of obvious” to make the Waste Management Phoenix Open one of the new designated events on the PGA Tour, although he has yet to experience the full party scene at TPC Scottsdale.

The World No. 1 is making only his second appearance at the event. His first was in 2021, when crowds were limited to 5,000 per day due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This week, McIlroy will be playing among hundreds of thousands of fans who will descend upon the course for the tour’s ultimate party scene.

“I’m looking forward to it this week in some ways, but it’s going to be an experience,” he acknowledged Wednesday.

The $20 million purse and $3.6 million winner’s check this week tie last year’s Players Championship for the biggest in tour history. It has helped draw one of the strongest fields in tournament history to an event that some players typically avoid due to the raucous atmosphere.

McIlroy is one of 22 players among the top 25 in the Official World Golf Rankings in the field.

“I think this tournament is a wonderful spectacle for the game of golf,” he said. “I think to have hundreds of thousands of fans at this event, I mean, I think it was obvious that this was one that needed to have that status.

“Just because it’s such a fan favorite, and players like it, players love the atmosphere. I think a lot of players like the golf course, as well.”

That said, McIlroy more or less needed to play the Phoenix Open after opting to skip the year-opening Tournament of Champions on Maui — the first designated event on the calendar. He’s embracing the atmosphere but like many of his fellow players, McIlroy is happy that it’s not a weekly experience on tour.

“I think if we were to have an event like this every single week or even five or 10 events like this on the schedule, I think it might be a little bit too much,” he said. “But I think to have a golf tournament where most of the fans here aren’t here to watch the golf, right; it’s a different environment, and that’s totally fine.

“If we’re talking about growing the game, that’s a way to do it.”

Growing the game has been a hot-button topic for McIlroy in his stance against the LIV Golf Series, which has lured several marquee players away from the PGA Tour with massive guaranteed contracts. With 54-hole, no-cut events and no established feeder tours, McIlroy has been outspoken in his view that the upstart rival is doing nothing to grow the game of golf.

He has been doing just as much talking with his play over the past six months.

After winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup title for the second time in August, McIlroy played just one fall event. He won the CJ Cup before finishing solo fourth at the DP World Championship and beginning 2023 with a win at the Dubai Desert Classic.

This week, McIlroy will attempt to become the first player to win three consecutive starts on the PGA Tour since Dustin Johnson in 2016-17.

He arrived in Phoenix ranked No. 1 ahead of defending champion Scottie Scheffler and red-hot Jon Rahm, and McIlroy provided a one-word answer when asked if he feels like the best player in the world.

“Yes.”

–Field Level Media

The annual party is on at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the 15th stop on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup season schedule.

The event begins Thursday at TPC Scottsdale, and our golf experts provide a tournament preview along with their favorite prop picks and best bets to win this week.

WM PHOENIX OPEN
Location: Scottsdale, Ariz., Feb. 9-12
Courses: TPC Scottsdale – Stadium Course (Par 71, 7,261 yards)
Purse: $20 Million (Winner: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Scottie Scheffler
FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (GC); 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (GC); 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming on ESPN+: Thursday-Friday: 9:15 a.m.-7:30 p.m. ET; Saturday, 12-6:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m-6 p.m.
Twitter: @WMPhoenixOpen

PROP PICKS
–Rory McIlroy to Shoot 66 or Lower Round 1 (+110 at BetMGM): McIlroy is oozing confidence, and the No. 1-ranked player said he feels like the best player in the world with his game in the best all around shape it has ever been. He has only played the Phoenix Open once, posting one sub-67 round in finishing T13 two years ago, and there were only 11 opening rounds of 66 or better last year. McIlroy has two opening rounds of 66 in his past three starts – both resulting in wins.

–Tom Hoge to Beat Jordan Spieth (+105 at DraftKings): This is a tournament matchup, and Spieth (-130) has been unable to put four solid rounds together of late. After a solid T13 to open the year on Maui, Spieth was tied for the lead following the first round of the Sony Open, only to miss the cut with a 75 in Round 2. He was again in contention at the midway point at Pebble Beach, but had to scramble to make the 54-hole cut on the number due to a third-round 75 and closed with a 73. Hoge failed to break 70 last week but still beat Spieth by three shots.

–Taylor Montgomery to Win Round 1 3-Ball (+140 at PointsBet): Keith Mitchell is +150 and coming off a T4 at Pebble Beach. He also finished T10 here last year, but is coming off a long, weather-delayed event that finished Monday. Sam Ryder (+250) is a streaky player who has sandwiched a pair of top-10s around three missed cuts in his past five starts. Meanwhile, Montgomery has eight top-10s through 10 starts of his rookie season, and has averaged an opening-round 65 in his first three starts of 2023.

2023 Prop Picks Record: 6-6-1

BEST BETS
–Jon Rahm (+750 at BetMGM) starred at nearby Arizona State and has four wins among eight consecutive top-10s worldwide. He opened the week at +800 and has seen his odds shorten slightly while being backed by 7.0 percent of the money.
–Rory McIlroy (+800) is making his first PGA Tour start of 2023. He is coming off a victory in Dubai and has won three of his past seven worldwide starts. However, McIlroy has drawn modest action with only 5.2 percent of the total bets and 5.0 percent of the money this week.
–Scottie Scheffler (+1200) and Xander Schauffele (+1600) are tied for the second-lowest scoring marking among any player with at least 10 rounds since the event moved to TPC Scottsdale in 1987. Scheffler is the defending champion, while Schauffele has finished T2 and T3 the past two years. It stands to reason that Schauffele is the sportsbook’s second biggest liability as he leads the field with 7.2 percent of the total bets and 11.9 percent of the money, although Scheffler has drawn only 4.3 and 3.4 percent, respectively.
–Collin Morikawa (+1800) returns to the event for the first time since 2000 as BetMGM’s biggest liability with 7.0 percent of the tickets and 10.7 percent of the money backing him, behind only Schauffele.
–Justin Thomas (+2000) has three top-10s in the past four WM Phoenix Opens. He is third at BetMGM with 6.6 and 8.7 percent of the action, respectively.
–Patrick Cantlay (+2000) lost in a playoff to Scheffler in his event debut last year, but has been a modest draw with 2.5 percent of the bets and just 1.7 percent of the money backing him.
–Max Homa (+2200), one of several Scottsdale residents in the field, won his most recent start at the Farmers Insurance Open.
–Hideki Matsuyama (+2800) has a pair of wins among five career top-10s at TPC Scottsdale. He is the most recent player to repeat a title at the Phoenix Open and is coming off a T9 at Torrey Pines.
–Tom Kim (+2800) is the third biggest liability this week. The rising 19-year-old star has drawn 7.3 percent of the total money this week.

NOTES
–The $3.6 million winner’s share matches last year’s Players Championship for the largest in PGA Tour history.
–The 134-player field features 22 of the top 25 players in the Official World Golf Ranking.
–The 6 p.m. scheduled end to the broadcast is set to accommodate the Super Bowl in nearby Glendale, with the event swapping with last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to keep its traditional Super Bowl Sunday spot.
–McIlroy won his lone start of the fall swing at the 2022 CJ Cup, following his victory at the Tour Championship. He’s seeking to become the first player to win three consecutive starts on tour since Dustin Johnson in 2016-17.
–Rickie Fowler’s most recent win came at the 2019 WM Phoenix Open, and he has three other top-fives in six previous starts.
–Montgomery, who is No. 8 in the FedEx Cup standings, is in the field on a sponsors exemption, as is fellow rookie Davis Thompson (No. 22).
–TPC Scottsdale was opened in 1986 and designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf. The latter passed away last August.

–Field Level Media