{"id":6933,"date":"2024-10-05T19:58:38","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T23:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/?p=6933"},"modified":"2025-01-09T13:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T18:22:42","slug":"liv-golf-2024-recap-and-power-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/liv-golf-2024-recap-and-power-rankings\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf: 2024 Recap and Power Rankings \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jon Rahm: Dominating Season<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jon Rahm put an exclamation point on his phenomenal season with a dominating 3-shot victory over Joaquin Niemann and Sergio Garcia in Chicago<\/mark><\/a>, finishing atop the final 2024 LIV Power Rankings<\/mark><\/a>. Niemann led the field throughout the year until Rahm finally ran him down with a win at the UK<\/mark><\/a> and followed with a runner-up at the Greenbrier<\/mark><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niemann had a break-out season, finishing well ahead of #3 Bryson DeChambeau, despite Bryson\u2019s fantastic performance at the 2024 major championships that gave him a big boost in the power rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Joaquin Niemann: Finishes #2<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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All of the top players in the year-end rankings recorded a Top 10 finish at Bolingbrook Golf Club<\/mark><\/a>, keeping the heat on Rahm right through the last round of the season\u2019s final event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you look at the way the big guns finished up the year, the 2025 LIV<\/mark><\/a> season should provide a lot of excitement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that 12 LIV<\/mark><\/a> players are included among the All-Time Top 100 Players<\/mark><\/a>, with Phil in the top 10, Jon Rahm breaking into the top 50 with his T10 at The Open Championship, and Bryson moving up to #91 with his win at the U.S. Open, runner-up at The PGA and T6 at The Masters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Team Championship: Maridoe Golf club, TX<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Team Championship<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the year-end Team Championship<\/mark><\/a> held at Maridoe Golf Club<\/mark><\/a> in Texas, Ripper GC<\/em><\/strong>, the Australian contingent of Cam Smith, Lucas Herbert, Mark Leishman and Matt Jones recorded a 3-shot victory over the Aces <\/em><\/strong>(Dustin Johnson, Pat Reed, Harlod Varner III and Pat Perez). Iron Heads<\/em><\/strong>, consisting of Jinichiro Kozuma, Kevin Na, Danny Lee and Scott Vincent finished in the 3rd position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cam leads Ripper GC to Team victory<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Power Rankings Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Players are rated and ranked on the basis of events played, average finish, wins, runner up, Top 5 and Top 10 finishes\u2014as well as performance at the major championships. DJ led the league in 2022 at 80.9, and Cameron Smith set a new standard in 2023 at 89.0\u2014but Jon Rahm\u2019s rating of 110.2 in 2024 is truly mind-blowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No. 1 Jon Rahm: 110.2 Rating <\/strong> Jon started the season with a T3 at Mayakoba and kept his foot on the gas all year, finishing in the top 10 week after week until finally torching the field with 2 wins and a runner-up in the final 3 events of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 12 LIV tournaments, Rahm recorded 2 wins, a runner-up, 5 Top 5\u2019s and 4 Top 10\u2019s\u2014and his average finish was 4.8. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would seem impossible to improve on the year Jon had in 2024, but you don\u2019t want to bet against him in 2025\u2014plus he\u2019ll be loaded for bear at the majors next time around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. 2 Joaquin Niemann: 99.1 Rating<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joaquin jumped out early winning 2 of the first 3 events at Mayakoba and Jedda<\/mark><\/a>, and battled Rahm tooth and nail all year to the bitter end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 13 events, Joaquin recorded 2 wins, 2 runner-ups, 3 Top 5\u2019s and 3 Top 10\u2019s, with an average finish of 8.9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the tournaments Rahm won at the UK and Chicago coming down the stretch, Joaquin was right there fighting his heart out\u2014but came up just short with runner-up finishes in both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before shedding too many tears for Joaquin though, remember he is just 25 years old, having turned pro at age 19\u2014and with that swing he\u2019s going to pile up plenty of wins before too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bryson: Huge year at the Majors<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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No. 3 Bryson DeChambeau: 90.2<\/strong> Rating<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryson had a good year in 2024 with 2-Top 5\u2019s, and 5 Top 10\u2019s, but considering his incredible performance at the major championships, you would have expected a bit more\u2014particularly after recording 2 LIV wins in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, DeChambeau was very consistent throughout the season and finished 4th in average finish at 12.8\u2014and it\u2019s pretty hard to complain about a year that includes a U.S. Open<\/mark><\/a> win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. 4 Tyrell Hatton: 87.8<\/strong> Rating<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hatton posted a win at The Grove<\/mark><\/a> in Nashville in his debut season with LIV, and also recorded a runner-up, 4 Top 5\u2019s and a Top 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyrell also posted an average finish of 10.2, 3rd in the league behind Rahm and Niemann. Hatton is loaded with talent, and when he keeps a handle on the temper it\u2019s almost certain to see him among the leaders come Sunday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind as well that in 2024 Tyrell was seeing many of the LIV tournament courses for the first time, which is always tough\u2014and that won\u2019t be the case in 2025. Don\u2019t be surprised if next year is a multiple win season for Hatton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brooks with 5 LIV wins<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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No. 5 Brooks Koepka: 79.6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooks notched 2 more wins in 2024, bringing him to a total of 5 since joining LIV in 2022, matching his major championship total, and 2 more than DJ, Cam Smith and Talor Gooch who each have 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all the even tempered consistency Koepka brings to the major championships, Brooks is remarkably inconsistent when it comes to regular events. Along with his two wins, Koepka recorded a Top 5 at Mayakoba and 3 Top 10\u2019s\u2014but then had a couple of big-time stinkers at Trump National Doral<\/mark><\/a> in Miami (45) and Nashville (42).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an average finish of 16.4, Brooks ranked 10th in the league behind Richard Bland (8) and Paul Casey (9). Bland and Casey are fine players, but they are not close to the level of Brooks Koepka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looks like Brooks is past the injuries and appears as fit as he\u2019s ever been\u2014so what\u2019s up? Certainly the putter went cold at some key points in the majors this year, but that doesn\u2019t explain so many poor performances at the regular LIV events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooks needs to step it up in 2025, and he will no doubt be a bigger force at the majors\u2014but Koepka should borrow a page from Jon Rahm and show up every week ready to play. And wouldn\u2019t that be fun to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Movers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bryson DeChambeau: <\/strong>Bryson joined LIV the first year back in 2022, played the second event in Portland and recorded a T10. The rest of his year, though, was underwhelming with only 1 more Top 10 (Chicago) while finishing up the year at No. 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023 DeChambeau pumped it up and recorded 2 wins, vaulting to No. 4, and in 2024 Bryson continued to move up, finishing at No. 3. Look for some good battles with Rahm and Koepka in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Garcia: Comeback in \u201824<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sergio Garcia: <\/strong>Sergio has played every event since LIV began in 2022, finally breaking out for his first win this year at Andalucia<\/mark><\/a>. Garcia recorded 4 top 10\u2019s in 7 events back in 2022, finishing the year at No. 6 in the rankings, but slipped to No. 17 in 2023\u2014and at 43 years old it looked like Sergio was fading fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garcia made a statement that he wasn\u2019t done quite yet in the first event of 2024 with a runner-up at Mayakoba. On top of his win in Spain, Sergio notched 2 additional runner-up finishes in Miami and Chicago, along with a T5 in Houston<\/mark><\/a> and a T8 at The Greenbrier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergio ended the year at No. 6 in the power rankings, and also 6th in average finish at 14.7\u2014a huge move from his mediocre 2023 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Louis Oosthuizen: Sweet Swing<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Louis Oosthuizen: <\/strong>With the prettiest golf swing you\u2019ll ever see, it had to be the bad back that caused Louis to finish 2023 in the middle of the pack (No. 23).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oosthuizen looked like the Louis of old this year though, recording a runner-up (Adelaide<\/mark><\/a>), a T4 (Andalucia), and 4 Top 10\u2019s. On top of that, he finished the year 5th in average finish at 14.6 and jumped all the way to No. 9 in the power rankings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s hope the back holds up in 2025, because there is nothing more enjoyable than watching Oosthuizen strike a laser-like long iron tracking the pin (see double eagle<\/mark><\/a> at Augusta with a 4 iron at No. 12 in 2012.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All-Time LIV Wins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n