Jon Rahm faces five-way fight to retain No 1 ranking at The Players Championship

Morikawa, Hovland, Cantlay, and Scheffler could all replace the Spaniard at the top of the OWGR

Jon Rahm during a practice round for The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. EPA

Jon Rahm could be involved in a five-way fight to retain his world No 1 ranking when The Players Championship gets underway this weekend in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, and Scottie Scheffler are all within striking distance of the Spaniard, who is aiming to retain top spot for the 42nd week of his career.

When Scheffler moved into fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking following Sunday's victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, it made this the first week in the history of the ranking system that each of the top five players are all younger than 30.

The Players champion earns 80 OWGR points, whereas standard tournaments offer a much smaller number of points that varies by the strength of field. That big prize creates scenarios where Morikawa, Hovland, Cantlay or Scheffler could overtake Rahm, who has held onto No 1 since the 2021 Open Championship.

Morikawa and Hovland became Tour rookies at the same time in 2019 and have not needed much time to make their mark. World No 2 Morikawa has six worldwide titles, including two majors and the Race to Dubai crown. Third-ranked Hovland, meanwhile, also has six professional wins, with the most recent coming in the Rolex Series' Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic in January.

"We just truly believed in ourselves, and that's the number one thing is that you absolutely have to trust yourself that you can do it," Morikawa said Tuesday. "Not just make it to the PGA Tour, not just make it to the top 100, top 50 in the world but to be No 1."

It would be a particularly unparalleled rise for Scheffler, who has contended on tour and helped the victorious US Ryder Cup team last September but finally broke through with his first two PGA Tour wins over his past three starts.

"I wouldn't say I really pay too much close attention to stuff like that," Scheffler said. "For me I'm just really focused on this event and this tournament and kind of getting ready."

For his part, Rahm said he had no idea so many players were on his tail.

"You should ask if I want to know those things or not," Rahm said, jokingly. "No, no. Even if you're No 1, you've still got to perform every week. I'm chasing people myself, as well, so no, I don't feel like I'm being chased."