Scottie Scheffler poses with the Walter Hagen Cup after defeating Kevin Kisner in the final to win the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play.
CNN  — 

Golf has a new world No. 1 and Scottie Scheffler can’t quite believe it.

Scheffler became the highest ranked golfer in the world on Sunday after victory at the World Golf Championships (WGC)-Dell Technologies Match Play event in Texas, US.

He beat fellow American Kevin Kisner 4&3 in the final to end Jon Rahm’s 36-week stay at the top of the rankings.

In the press conference after becoming world No. 1 for the first time in his career, Scheffler said that his head was still “spinning.”

“It’s not something that I didn’t want to achieve or didn’t believe that I could do. I grew up at Royal Oaks (Country Club in Dallas, Texas). I grew up wearing long pants to go practice because I wanted to be a professional golfer,” he explained.

“That’s what I dreamed of. I dreamed of being out here. I’ve always been, I would say, fiercely competitive, and so for me getting out here was a goal per se, and being out here, I like competing and I enjoy the challenge of playing out here every week. Just competing out here is really fun for me and just being able to win tournaments is pretty awesome.

“The rankings never really crossed my mind. It was always just about being out here and competing.”

Scheffler plays his shot from the eighth tee in his semifinal match against Dustin Johnson.

Scheffler’s rise to the summit of golf’s rankings has come on the back of some excellent recent form.

Forty three days ago, the 25-year-old didn’t have a PGA Tour victory to his name, but now, he has three in his last five starts.

Scheffler won the Phoenix Open in February by beating Patrick Cantlay in a playoff, then clinched the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this month.

And his victory at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event – in which he had to beat former world No. 1 Dustin Johnson in the semifinal – at the Austin Country Club caps off an excellent run of form.

According to the PGA Tour, Scheffler becomes the sixth-youngest player to reach No. 1 since the world ranking began in 1986.

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After going so long without a win, Scheffler theorized that now he’s “making up for a little bit of lost time maybe the last few weeks.”

“I never got that far in my dreams,” an emotional Scheffler said during the trophy ceremony. “I just play golf. I love competing. I’m happy to be out here, you know?”

Given his recent impressive run of form, Scheffler has become one of the favorites for the Masters which begin on April 7 at Augusta National.