Jon Rahm has been chasing Joaquin Niemann in the LIV Power Rankings all year, and with his first LIV win at the UK and a runner-up at The Greenbrier, he finally ran him down.
Niemann certainly didn’t give it up without a fight though, finishing one shot behind Rahm at the UK as runner up. Jon came out swinging with a first round 63 and a 6-shot lead over Niemann, but Joaquin fired 67 and 65 on the weekend only to come up just shy.
Niemann certainly didn’t play poorly at The Greenbrier either, finishing at 11 under par and a T15 (along with Bryson DeChambeau), but Rahm has been relentless in 2024 and his runner-up to Koepka on Old White pretty much sealed the deal.
Niemann will need to win Chicago with Rahm finishing outside the top 10 to retake the lead, and the way Rahm has played that doesn’t seem likely. As the year winds down, there are twelve LIV players included among the All-Time Top 100 Players, with Phil at the top and Bryson the most recent addition on the strength of his fantastic major championship season.
Joaquin Niemann: Falls to #2
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 Jon Rahm: 100.8 Rating
Jon started to heat up with his final round at The Open and a Top 10 finish, and then kept rolling when he held off Niemann for his first LIV win at the UK. Although the last nine holes at the Olympic Tournament in France were excruciating after the first 63 holes of flawless golf, Rahm came back with another powerful performance at The Greenbrier where he recorded a runner-up, losing in a playoff to Brooks Koepka.
In 11 LIV events, Rahm has recorded a win, a runner-up, 5 Top-5’s and 4 Top-10’s—and his average finish is 5.2.
What separated Jack and Tiger was brilliant consistency and professionalism—and Jon Rahm epitomizes exactly that.
Think Jon will be among the leaders on Sunday at Bolingbrook? You can take it to the bank.
No. 2 Joaquin Niemann: 93.6 Rating
Joaquin has had an amazing year with 2 wins, 6 Top-10’s and a runner-up at the UK, going toe-to-toe with Rahm throughout the year.
Keep in mind that Niemann is only 25 years old, although you may think he’s far older (Joaquin turned pro at 19 and won his first Tour event at 20).
He charged hard but finished a shot back at the UK, and finally relinquished his lead in the LIV Power Rankings when Rahm recorded yet another Top-10 at The Greenbrier—but unfortunately for Niemann it was like trying to hold back a tidal wave.
And while he has yet to make his presence felt at the major championships, Niemann has had extraordinary success at every level since first picking up a club as a toddler—so his time will come without doubt.
Bryson: Bombing it at Bolingbrook
No. 3 Bryson DeChambeau: 86.7 Rating
Bryson got off to a slow start at both the UK and Greenbrier, finishing strong but just outside the top 10 in both events.
With his U.S. Open win, runner up at the PGA and T6 at The Masters, Bryson had an incredible year at the majors—and 2 Top-5’s (Jeddah and Nashville) along with 4 Top-10’s in 12 LIV events is one heck of a regular season.
Bryson is back, and he’ll be hitting eye-popping bombs at Bolingbrook—so Rahm and Niemann will need to bring their A games to keep him at bay.
No. 4 Tyrell Hatton: 83.3 Rating
Hatton played great at the UK, recording a T2, but followed up with a less than stellar performance (25th) at The Greenbrier—which pretty much sums up Tyrell’s 2024 campaign.
Tyrell’s season included brilliant performances (a win, runner-up, 3 Top-5’s and a Top-10), along with forgettable finishes (Hong Kong—21 and Houston—18) and mediocrity (T15 in Jedda and T14 at Adelaide).
Which Tyrell Hatten will show up in Chicago? We’ll have to wait and see.
Cam Smith: 3 Times a Runner-up
No. 5 Cameron Smith: 76.9
Smith is having about as good a season as you can have without recording a win. Including a T2 in the UK, Cameron has recorded 3 runner-up finishes in 2024. When you add 4 Top-10’s and a T6 at The Masters, Smith has had a very successful season.
Like Brooks Koepka however, Cameron puts the bulk of his stock in performance at the majors, and after the good start at Augusta he was outside the top 20 at the PGA and U.S. Open, and then missed the cut at The Open Championship.
Still, Cam is coming off back-to-back Top-10’s at The UK and The Greenbrier, so a win in Chicago would be a great way to wind up the year and make a statement for 2025.
Notables
Brooks Koepka (No. 6/75.7 Rating)
Brooks applied the brakes to the Jon Rahm freight train with a playoff win at Greenbrier for his second victory of the 2024 season and 5th career LIV championship.
It’s been a strange year for Koepka though, making the cut in all four majors while finishing outside the top 20 in every one of them. And although he has a pair of LIV wins along with a T5 and 2 Top-10’s, Brooks was downright lousy in a couple of events (Miami—45 and Nashville—42) and lackluster in others (Hong Kong—28 and Andalucia—27).
Koepka is an enigma for sure, with all that power and ability. Seems like if the putts are falling early, it’s lights out for the field—but if not, the fire begins to fade.
Let’s hope Brooks has it going in Chicago, it would be great to see another bare-knuckle brawl with Rahm.
Louis Oosthuizen: Sweet Swing
Louis Oosthuizen (No. 8/67.2 Rating)
Is there a golf swing in golf more enjoyable to watch? Or a nicer guy on the planet? Once again Louis Oosthuizen is quietly having a solid year with a runner-up (Adelaide), T4 (Andalucia), and 4 additional Top-10’s.
Louis is also the picture of consistency, in spite of a balky back, ranking fourth in average finish at 12.8.
If you can tear yourself away from watching Bryson bomb it, check out the simple elegance of a Louis Oosthuizen long iron—brings a smile every time.
Give Us One More Thrill Phil!
Phil (No. 44/32.8 Rating)
Still no Phil. After tying Gary Player for second behind Jack with 102 major cuts when he made it to the weekend at Royal Troon, it almost seems that Phil has packed it in for the season.
Following a mediocre performance at the UK (T34), Mickelson appeared ready to make some noise at The Greenbrier with two solid rounds, but then blew up on Sunday to finish 50th.
Mickelson also passed a comment that at 54, perhaps it was nearing the time he should “step aside,” but it’s looked like Phil was done before and then he suddenly popped back up.
Come on Phil, give us one more thrill in Chicagoland.
