How has Scheffler reached world No 1 so quickly?

Scottie Scheffler capped a meteoric rise from relative golfing obscurity to the top of the men’s game with his latest victory at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

The race for world No 1 has been a constant talking point in recent months, with two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, rising star Viktor Hovland and FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay all primed to challenge Jon Rahm for top spot, although Scheffler leapfrogged the lot with a whirlwind start to 2022.

Scheffler began the year outside the world's top 10 despite a stellar 12 months, where a runner-up finish at the last year's WGC Match Play was one of 10 top-10s in a campaign that also saw him make his Team USA debut in a record-breaking Ryder Cup success.

The 25-year-old was world No 15 when he celebrated a breakthrough success at the WM Phoenix Open in early February, defeating Cantlay in a play-off, with the victory sparking a rapid charge to becoming the sixth-youngest world No 1 in the history of the Official World Golf Rankings.

Scheffler would return to the winner's circle just two events later, posting a final-round 72 to finish a shot clear of Hovland at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, lifting him to world No 5 and adding his name to the list of contenders closing in on Rahm's No 1 position.

Although Rahm was able to retain his No 1 spot at The Players earlier this month, Scheffler ended the Spaniard's eight-month-long stint at the top of the rankings by continuing his winning run at Austin Country Club.

Scheffler needed a six-hole play-off against Matt Fitzpatrick to progress through the group stage, having lost to Tommy Fleetwood the previous day, before avenging last year's final defeat against Billy Horschel by defeating his compatriot on the