Opinion: The Should be Top 10 ranked golfers in the world

The top individual golfers are ranked through the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) point system that awards golfers points based on their recent performances.

The current OWGR point system discriminates against golfers on LIV, since LIV events only earn half of the points PGA Tour events earn, and LIV players are only awarded points for top 10 finishes.

Before this season, LIV events did not even earn points, which saw some of the best players in the world fall off the OWGR leaderboard. LIV events now only earn half points due to the Saudi-backed golf league’s limited field format with 57 golfers.

If the OWGR awarded points to PGA TOUR and LIV events the same, here is what I think the top 10 would look like.

#10 Chris Gotterup, OWGR ranking: 10

Chris Gotterup recently found himself in the OWGR top 10 after a breakout 2025, in which he won the Scottish Open and just missed out on the USA Ryder Cup team. Gotterup has already won 2 events in 2026, with victories coming at the PGA Tour season-opening Sony Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Gotterup has had a very strong start to 2026, and if his good form continues, he will likely rise the OWGR and find himself on the U.S. Presidents Cup team in September.

#9 Bryson Dechambeau, OWGR ranking: 33

Although Bryson DeChambeau has been away from the PGA Tour for some time, he is still one of the best golfers in the world.

DeChambeau is two years removed from winning the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, but reminded everyone that he is still one of the best at the 2025 Ryder Cup with his 5 hole-down rally to tie his singles match against Matt Fitzpatrick.

With LIV events now earning OWGR points, albeit not full points, DeChambeau will find himself sitting with the best on tour soon enough, especially if he has a strong performance in the Masters in a few weeks from now.

#8 Xander Schauffele, OWGR ranking: 7

Xander Schauffele struggled to replicate some of the same success in 2025 that he had in 2024 when he won two majors, the PGA Championship and The Open. Schauffele’s rough 2025 largely could be blamed on the fact that he was recovering from a rib injury for most of the season.

Despite struggling for the bulk of 2025, Schauffele won the Baycurrent Classic in October and has put together some solid performances thus far in 2026, including finishing 3rd at the PLAYERS Championship, reminding everyone that he is still one of the best players in the world.

#7 Collin Morikawa, OWGR ranking: 6

For Collin Morikawa, 2025 was a struggle much like Schauffele's. At times last season, Morikawa’s swing looked lost, and many were questioning his inclusion in the U.S. Ryder Cup team. At the start of 2026, Morikawa flipped a switch and reminded fans that he is still one of the best in the world, much like Schauffele.

After missing the cut at the Sony Open and finishing T54, Morikawa followed up two disappointing results with a win at Pebble Beach and two more top ten finishes at the Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Morikawa did withdraw from the PLAYERS Championship with a back injury, however, and may miss some time, which may cause him to drop in the OWGR.

Regardless of any discourse around Morikawa or his potentially missing time due to injury, he still deserves to be ranked among the best players in the world.

#6 Cameron Young, OWGR ranking: 4

Cameron Young has cemented himself as a fast-rising star in golf right now. As a Ryder Cup rookie, Young turned heads playing close to home at Bethpage Black and became a name for all golf fans to know. In 2025, Young had 8 top 10 finishes and won his first Tour event at the Wyndham Championship.

In his last 3 starts on Tour, Young finished T7 at the Genesis Invitational, T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and won the PLAYERS Championship. Young’s strong Ryder Cup performance, recent results and his win at the PLAYERS have established the Long Island native’s case for being ranked as high as he is now.

#5 Justin Rose, OWGR ranking: 5

At 45, Justin Rose has shown that age does not matter. Rose played in the 2025 Ryder Cup for Team Europe and had an incredibly strong showing. Rose also won a FedEx Cup playoff event in 2025 as well as the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Perhaps it was Rose’s performance at the 2025 Masters, where he took Rory McIlroy to a playoff on the 18th hole, that initially put him into the conversation of being a top 5 golfer in the world.

Rose’s 2025 remontada was not an anomaly. Rose won the Farmers’ Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in his 2nd start of the 2026 season and made the first-ever albatross in TGL history as well.

Rose struggled at the Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational, but put together a solid performance at 6-under par and was good for a T13 finish at The PLAYERS.

Rose is the ultimate definition of an ageless wonder and has not shown any signs of slowing down at this point in his career.

#4 Jon Rahm, OWGR ranking: 34

Jon Rahm is consistently putting together strong performances both on LIV and in the majors. Rahm also had a very strong showing at the Ryder Cup for Team Europe.

The Spaniard has 2 top 2 finishes, a Top 5 finish, and a win through his first four LIV starts in 2026. At the 2025 majors, Rahm finished T14th at the Masters, T8th at the PGA Championship after being tied for the lead with Scottie Scheffler in the final round before collapsing.

Nonetheless, Rahm is still among the best of the best in the world, and the only reason he is not ranked in the top 5 in the OWGR is that LIV events were not earning points for the last two seasons.

#3 Tommy Fleetwood, OWGR ranking: 3

Tommy Fleetwood, for the longest time, had been one of the best players in the world to not win on Tour. That all changed at the 2025 Tour Championship when Fleetwood took home the FedEx Cup.

Fleetwood has followed up a strong 2025 with 3 top 10 finishes in 4 starts on tour in 2026. After getting his first win in his 164th PGA Tour start, Fleetwood will be hoping that he can add a few more wins to his name in 2026 and not have to wait too long for his inevitable 2nd Tour win.

#2 Rory McIlroy, OWGR ranking: 2

Rory McIlroy is one of the greatest golfers. After going more than 10 years without winning a major, McIlroy became the 6th man to ever complete the grand slam after winning the Masters in 2025.

McIlroy won the 2025 DP World Tour race to Dubai as well and recently made his 2026 debut on the PGA Tour at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, finishing T14th. McIlroy followed up his performance at Pebble with a tied-2nd place finish at the Genesis Invitational before an injury forced his withdrawal at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

McIlroy will be one of the favorites in all 4 majors this year and will be defending his Green Jacket at Augusta in a few weeks.

#1 Scottie Scheffler, OWGR ranking: 1

Not much needs to be said when pleading the case for Scottie Scheffler being the world number 1. Scheffler has 14 wins dating back to 2024, 3 of them being majors, and 15 if you count his Olympic Gold Medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In 2025, Scheffler won the PGA Championship and The Open in dominating fashion and kicked off his 2026 with a dominant win at the American Express. Scheffler is not showing any signs of slowing down, and his dominance has started drawing comparisons to Tiger Woods’ dominance in the 2000s.

Scheffler will no doubt go down as one of the best ball strikers of all time and could very soon find himself in the conversation of all-time great golfers.

Ian Rothenburg is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him please email him at imr5327@psu.edu.