Australia's Adam Scott will become world No1 without lifting a finger
• Scott will follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Greg Norman • Australian has profited from Tiger Woods' injury absence
Press Association The Guardian, Thursday 15 May 2014 04.48 AEST
Adam Scott of Australia can look forward to taking over at the top. Photograph: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Adam Scott can enjoy watching this week's Byron Nelson Championship on television safe in the knowledge that he will become world No1 regardless of the result.
In the absence of the injured Tiger Woods, Scott has had several opportunities to play his way to the top of the rankings, most notably when blowing a seven-shot halfway lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The former Masters champion would also have overtaken Woods with a top-16 finish in the Players Championship last week, but slumped to an opening 77 and eventually finished joint 38th.
However the 33-year-old Australian will finally follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Greg Norman when the latest rankings are released on Monday, even if Matt Kuchar wins the Byron Nelson.
Kuchar would also overtake Woods with a victory but would not be able to overhaul Scott, who would make it the 12th time that a player has moved to No1 despite not actually playing.
Woods has yet to set a date for his return following back surgery on 31 March and will continue to slide down the rankings because his last wins were more than three months ago.
Martin Kaymer's last win was of course just days ago, the former world No1's victory in the Players Championship on Sunday lifting him from 61st to 28th in the rankings.
Kaymer will attempt to make it back-to-back wins at the TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas, where he finished joint fifth on his debut last year.
Jordan Spieth, who played alongside Kaymer for the final two rounds at Sawgrass, returns to the event where he made his PGA Tour debut at the age of 16 in 2010, finishing joint 16th.
The 20-year-old will be playing in his hometown event for the fourth time and hoping to follow in his footsteps is the sponsor's invite Scottie Scheffler, one of the world's top-ranked juniors.
And the 17-year-old even has ambitions to do even better than Spieth, despite having to split his time between golf and school homework.
"I have a calculus project I have to do and a quantum science test in the morning," Scheffler told a press conference. "Obviously there is a little bit of pressure, but I'm trying to treat this like I would any other tournament with my preparation, and that's really all I can do, is just keep preparing the same way I have been.
"I was going to try to get in the top 10. I thought that would be a good goal for me."
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