You didn’t need a degree in everything golf to predict who would be at the world ranking summit at the end of 2024.
Scottie Scheffler was absolutely faultless. He won seven times including at the Masters, the Memorial, the RBC Heritage, the Arnold Plamer Invitational and not including the Olympic Gold Medal.
The Texan established himself at the top of the world rankings in 2024, and it was only his presence that stopped Xander Schauffele from taking an unassailable lead in what was an incredible year for the debutant major winner.
Not only did Schauffele break his major duck by winning the PGA Championship at Valhalla, but he followed this up with a superb win in the wind and the rain of Royal Troon at The Open Championship.
[object Object][object Object][object Object]
Seven wins and a major or two majors – which is the better season? Despite his consistency, Rory McIlroy was removed from the major conversation for the 10th year in a row. He ripped his own heart out at the US Open when he missed two short putts in the last three holes to surrender the trophy to LIV Golf and YouTube star Bryson DeChambeau.
With his impressive performances at golf’s biggest events, DeChambeau crept into the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings despite having limited access to ranked events given his place on the LIV roster.
As for McIlroy, he won a fourth Wells Fargo Championship title, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Shane Lowry and a sixth Race to Dubai title after winning the DP World Tour Championship again.
Above, you can see the self-assessment of the 2024 predictions I made in December 2023. I’ll now go forth and lay down my calls for the top 10 in the world rankings at Christmas 2025.
OWGR Predictions
10. Jon Rahm
I was right to rule out Rahm from the top 10 in 2024. His move to LIV Golf and his lack of access to ranked events was too much for him to recover the position he fell from. But like DeChambeau in the 2024 majors, I can see Rahm scoring plenty of points in the 2025 majors and sneaking in Bryson-style.
Advertisement
I’m giving Justin Thomas the nod again. He hasn’t been himself since he won his second PGA Championship in 2022. He missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2023 and was winless in 2024. He’s picking up some speed though and it’s a new Ryder Cup year, so watch out.
Hideki Matsuyama reminded us all of his quality in 2024 by winning the Genesis Invitational and the FedEx St. Jude Championship, while also bagging an Olympic bronze medal for Japan and contending at The Players Championship and the US Open. Expect another big year for the 2021 Masters champion.
A Ryder Cup year could bring out the best in Patrick Cantlay who was a US talisman in Rome in 2023. He is barely out of the top 25 and despite not winning in 2023 or 2024, he was in the top 10 of the world rankings for much of the year. He will surely want to make his mark on the majors at some point soon as well.
Despite challenging until the end at the PGA Championship, Viktor Hovland had a largely disappointing season with only two top-10s in 16 events. He is pure class though and no doubt he will bring out his best game to rubberstamp his place in the European Ryder Cup team.
5. Ludvig Aberg
Ludvig Aberg made a remarkable start to his major career at the 2024 Masters where he came second. He only missed two cuts this season, so the young Swede is giving himself every chance of finishing high up the leaderboard almost every week he is out there.
Collin Morikawa showed vast improvement in 2023 and it continued in 2024. During the previous season, he lost in a playoff to Rickie Fowler at the Rocket Mortgage and hit the bar at the Sentry and the Farmers Insurance Open, but did win the ZOZO. Last season, he made eight top 10s and came second twice. The two-time major champion played all at Augusta and Pinehurst too, so an exciting 2025 could be ahead.
When a player wins their first major, many people say that could open the floodgates, and that was certainly true of Xander Schauffele who was an immensely impressive winner of the 2024 Open in Scotland. My top three predictions were interchangeable given their quality. It could be that Xander wins more majors and remains third by Christmas 2025.
2. Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy didn’t win the Masters again and didn’t win a major again. His resilience on the golf course is amazing, and he’ll be plugging away in 2025 albeit on a reduced timetable he admits. The Northern Irishman is a winner and his undying nack to pick off trophies will keep him at this end of the world rankings.
1. Scottie Scheffler
Like last year, this wasn’t difficult to decide. It’s tough to lump such expectations on a player, but anything less than four wins for Scottie Scheffler in 2025 would feel disappointing. His ball-striking is statistically generational and there is an air of inevitability when he is lurking around the top of the leaderboard.
On the cusp…
Tommy Fleetwood – Tommy Fleetwood simply needs to win on the PGA Tour soon. And if (when) he does, he will rocket up the OWGR.
Cameron Smith – Like my prediction with his LIV Golf colleague Rahm and the performances of DeChambeau in 2024, Cameron Smith could certainly use the majors to their full potential and pivot towards the summit of the rankings.
Advertisement
Max Greyserman – This is an ambitious shout, but Max Greyserman was very unlucky not to win several times on the PGA Tour in 2024 and I expect a big 2025 to come.
Bryson DeChambeau – With no avenues to ranked events other than the majors, it’s hard to say DeChambeau can go deep into the top 10, or any LIV player for that matter. He’ll surely be on the cusp though with more impressive play at the majors.
NOW READ: Who is in the world’s top 10 of the men’s and women’s games?
NOW READ: How far have the LIV golfers fallen in the world rankings?
NOW READ: LIV boss Greg Norman slams ‘laughable’ world rankings
What are your thoughts on the golf top 10 world rankings? Who would you put at the top of the pile? Tell us on Twitter/X!
Advertisement
