Jon Rahm keeps packing on the Top 10’s and Bryson DeChambeau lit up the first three majors of the year–yet Joaquin Niemann continues to hold the lead in the LIV Power Rankings.
Of the 18 LIV players to tee it up for The Open Championship at Royal Troon, 11 made the cut where brutal wind and gnarly rough saw 10 of the Top 20 players in the World Rankings head home for the weekend.
The weather continued to play havoc with scoring as rain came in on Saturday afternoon, adding another element to the difficult conditions at Troon, and then on Sunday the wind abruptly turned 180 degrees presenting the players with an entirely new look—and requiring a big shift in strategy and approach amidst the pressure of the final round at a major championship.
As the leaders came back to the field, Jon Rahm battled the elements and stayed within striking distance at 2 over through the first three rounds. On Sunday Jon came out guns blazing with 3 birdies on the first 3 holes and 32 on the front-nine to pull within 2 shots of the lead before a wayward tee shot on the 11th hole led to a bogie that derailed his run.
Although Rahm didn’t pick up his third major, his T7 adds another Major Top 10 to an already phenomenal record, and he will join Phil, DJ, Sergio and Lee Westwood among the first 50 in All-Time Top 100 Players.
LIV Power Ranking Update
Players are rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top-5 and Top-10 finishes–as well as performance at the major championships.
Top 5
No. 1 Joaquin Niemann: 87.4 Rating
Along with his two wins at Mayakoba and Jeddah, Niemann has also recorded 6-Top 10’s including his T6 at Andalucia last week, and improved his average finish of 9.6, second only to Jon Rahm.
Although his performance at the major’s has not met expectations thus far in his early career, it is only a matter of time before Joaquin breaks out in a big way—and there is nothing not to like about this young man (exemplified by the 4 birdies he made on the back nine Friday at Troon following a nightmare 8 at the Postage Stamp Par 3).
No. 2 Jon Rahm: 86.0 Rating
Still no LIV wins (incredibly), but five Top-5’s and four Top-10’s in nine LIV events this year is pretty tough to beat. And with all those great finishes, it’s not a surprise that Rahm also holds a substantial lead in average finish at 6.0.
Although Jon came up short at The Open, there was a glimpse of the fire that the world is used to seeing from Rahm when he is in the hunt on Sunday—look for him to break through with his first LIV win this weekend at The UK.
No. 3 Bryson DeChambeau: 84.6 Rating
In addition to his U.S. Open win, runner up at the PGA and T6 at The Masters, Bryson has recorded 2-Top 5’s (Jeddah and Nashville) along with 4 Top-10’s (including a T9 at Andalucia last week).
While Bryson missed the cut at The Open this week, his 2024 season has been nothing less than spectacular—and you can look forward to watching him bomb his way to the top of the leaderboard at major championships for many years to come.
No. 4 Tyrell Hatton: 77.9 Rating
Hatton recorded a T3 at Andalucia on the heels of his first LIV win in Nashville at The Grove, where he dominated for a six-shot margin of victory.
For the season, Tyrell has recorded 3 Top-5’s and a Top-10 to go along with his win, while sporting the third best average finish at 10.1—just behind Niemann.
No. 5 Sergio Garcia: 67.9 With his home-court win at Andalucia last week, Sergio jumped into the Top 5 on the Power rankings. In addition to his win, Garcia has also recorded a pair of runner-up finishes (Mayakoba and Trump Doral in Miami), as well as a T5 at Houston.
No. 5 Dean Burmester: 67.0 Rating
Dean got off to a fast start in the ’24 season with a T3 at Mayakoba, a T8 in Hong Kong, a win in Miami at Trump National Doral and another T3 at Adelade—but cooled off with no Top 10’s in his last four LIV events.
It seemed that the Burmester magic was back as he stayed among the leaders through Thursday and Friday at The Open, but as the rain and wind grew stronger on Saturday afternoon Dean’s hopes were washed away with a 41 on the back, and a 3rd round 76.
Burmester re-set and shot an even par 71 on Sunday for a solid Top 20 Open finish, so it seems that he’s ready to resume his early season success.
Notables
Brooks Koepka (No. 6/63.9 Rating)
For a lot of players making the cut at all four majors wouldn’t be all that bad, but for Koepka it’s a dismal year.
Brooks has recorded a win, a Top 5 and 2-Top 10’s thus far in 2024 however, so he’s still in position to make a move with big finishes at the U.K., Greenbrier and Bolingbrook Golf Club in Chicago. But will he be motivated?
Phil (No. 41/33.0 Rating
Phil continues his slumber in the LIV events, but he was teeing it up on Saturday at Royal Troon while ten of the top twenty players in the world were lounging on the couch.
And although it wasn’t the same Phil who fought Henrik Stenson tooth and nail at Troon in 2016, firing that brilliant final found 65, he’s still got some game at 54 years old (finished in a tie with 2023 Open Champion Brian Harmon and ahead of Hideki Matsuyama, another World Top 20 player).
The 2024 Open Championship was also the 102nd time that Mickelson has made the cut at a major championship, tying Gary Player for second behind Jack.
2024 Upcoming LIV Schedule
United Kingdom: JCB Golf and Country Club (July26-28)
Greenbrier: Old White-Greenbrier (August 16-18)
Chicago: Bolingbrook Golf Club (September 13-15)
Team Championship Dallas: Maridoe Golf Club (September 20-22)
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