There was good news for LIV Golf ahead of the 2026 season when it was confirmed that, after a wait of almost four years, it would receive world ranking eligibility.
However, the news was tempered by the fact that, unlike other circuits, points would only be awarded to the top 10 players and ties in each tournament.
Despite that significant caveat, for LIV Golfers, the fact that they could now regularly compete for world ranking points would have come as a relief after, for the most part, seeing their positions in the standings plummet in previous seasons.
We’re now five events into the season following LIV Golf South Africa, while the next tournament isn’t until the middle of April, when the league heads to Mexico.
Therefore, it’s a good time to assess just what the accumulation of world ranking points has meant to players who have earned them so far.
In total, 32 players have finished in the top 10 and ties at least once so far this season.
Of those, Jon Rahm is the one ever-present, with one victory, three runner-up finishes and one finish of fifth to his name so far.
On the eve of the new season, he was 97th in the rankings, but thanks to his stunning form, he is now up to 28th.
Another remarkably consistent player has been Dean Burmester, who has finished in the top 10 and ties in all but one event, the season opener.
As a result, he has jumped from 276th to 170th in the rankings, albeit helped by a T20 in the Investec South African Open Championship on the DP World Tour.
Six LIV Golfers have made the top 10 and ties three times, with Bryson DeChambeau the standout among them. In South Africa, he completed back-to-back LIV Golf victories following his win in Singapore, while he also placed T3 at LIV Golf Adelaide.
DeChambeau began the season ranked 33rd in the world, but he’s now up to 24th.
For context, DeChambeau won 23 world ranking points in Singapore and 24 in South Africa.
However, that is still far fewer than PGA Tour winners receive, even in its non-Signature Events. For example, Matt Fitzpatrick claimed over 48 for his win at the Valspar Championship.
Despite that, DeChambeau still claimed 12 more points in South Africa than Jordan Gumberg earned for his win at the DP World Tour’s Hainan Classic.
The other players with three finishes in the top 10 and ties so far this season are Thomas Pieters, David Puig, Lucas Herbert, Thomas Detry and Branden Grace.
Pieters began the season 564th in the world rankings, but is now up to 224th, while Puig was 95th as the season began but is now up to 75th.
Herbert was 257th before LIV Golf Riyadh, but is now 165th, although, like Burmester, he had a non-LIV Golf ranking event to help him, winning over five points for his runner-up at the New Zealand Open.
Detry was 62nd before the season began, but is now up to 57th, the five-place boost helped by a seventh at LIV Golf Riyadh, T2 in Hong Kong and T3 in South Africa.
One daunting stat from a LIV Golfers' perspective is that, even with Detry's finish of seventh in the season opener, he dropped from 62nd in the rankings to 63rd, highlighting how difficult it remains for the players to climb the rankings.
That leaves Grace, who was ranked 463rd as he teed it up in Riyadh, but is now 231st. He also played in the Investec South African Open Championship, finishing T20 alongside Burmester to earn 1.2 of the almost 14 world ranking points he has so far this season.
Beneath those players, eight have achieved two top 10s and ties with 16 making the threshold for world ranking points once. Among that number is LIV Golf Adelaide winner Anthony Kim, who is now 208th in the world rankings having started the season in 848th.
Overall, the majority of players who have gained LIV Golf world ranking points are, unsurprisingly, higher in the rankings now than they were at the start of the season.
Two players are lower in the world rankings than at the start of the season despite having claimed points on LIV Golf,
One is Byeong Hun An, who began the season in 111th and placed T9 at LIV Golf Riyadh, but is now 129th.
The other is Tyrrell Hatton, who was 22nd before the season started, but is now 30th despite a T3 in the Adelaide tournament.
One player, Joaquin Niemann, is in the same position today as he was at the beginning of February, 155th.
The highest-ranked player who has earned world ranking points on LIV Golf this season is DeChambeau in 24th. The biggest mover is Matthew Wolff, who began the season ranked 2,148th, but is now up to 571st - a leap of 1,577 places - thanks to placing fifth in Hong Kong and T8 in Singapore.
Below are all the players who have earned world ranking points pn LIV Golf so far this season, along with details of what it has meant for their ranking.
World Ranking Moves Of LIV Golfers
Player (A-Z) |
Number Of LIV Golf Top 10/Ties And Finishing Positions |
World Ranking (From-To) |
Byeong Hun An |
1 (T9) |
111th-129th |
Abraham Ancer |
2 (T4, T3) |
616th-299th |
Josele Ballester |
1 (T6) |
187th-180th |
Dean Burmester |
4 (T6, 7, T10, T6) |
276th-170th |
Bryson DeChambeau |
3 (T3, 1, 1) |
33rd-24th |
Thomas Detry |
3 (7, 2, T3) |
62nd-57th |
Sergio Garcia |
1 (T8) |
363rd-337th |
Talor Gooch |
1 (T10) |
1,568th-971st |
Branden Grace |
3 (T9, T8, T3) |
463rd-231st |
Tyrrell Hatton |
2 (T3, T10) |
22nd-30th |
Lucas Herbert |
3 (T9, T6, T8) |
257th-165th |
Charles Howell III |
1 (T9) |
867th-638th |
Dustin Johnson |
1 (T10) |
662nd-582nd |
Anthony Kim |
1 (1) |
848th-208th |
Anirban Lahiri |
1 (T9) |
858th-646th |
Richard T. Lee |
1 (2) |
184th-158th |
Marc Leishman |
1 (T8) |
222nd-217th |
Graeme McDowell |
1 (T8) |
1,503rd-894th |
Sebastian Munoz |
2 (8, T8) |
767th-478th |
Joaquin Niemann |
1 (4) |
155th-155th |
Louis Oosthuizen |
1 (T8) |
352nd-326th |
Carlos Ortiz |
2 (6, 8) |
169th-153rd |
Thomas Pieters |
3 (T4, 3, T6) |
564th-224th |
David Puig |
3 (T4, T8, T6) |
95th-75th |
Jon Rahm |
5 (2, 2, 1, 5, 2) |
97th-28th |
Cameron Smith |
2 (T8, T8) |
221st-207th |
Elvis Smylie |
2 (1, T8) |
134th-79th |
Brendan Steele |
1 (T10) |
1,686th-992nd |
Peter Uihlein |
2 (3, T3) |
199th-140th |
Harold Varner III |
1 (4) |
1,349th-593rd |
Lee Westwood |
1 (3) |
1,016th-465th |
Matthew Wolff |
2 (5, T8) |
2,148th-571st |
