SI World Golf Rankings: Chris Kirk Rises to No. 24 After Honda Classic Victory

We break down the top 5 risers and top 5 fallers after a wild weekend of golf.

Jeff Ritter | Feb 27, 2023

The new SI World Golf Rankings have been updated on our new interface, and there are some big movers up and down the list, led by the winners from Sunday’s events: Chris Kirk at the Honda Classic and Charles Howell III at the LIV Golf Mexico event.

(ICYMI: Last week we launched our own top 100 ranking with proprietary calculations, which we'll update each week moving forward.)

The SIWGR was bullish on Kirk even before his victory: Last week, before he won a Tour event for the first time in more than eight years, Kirk was already higher on the SI list than the OWGR (31st SIWGR, 47th OWGR). This week, after fending off Eric Cole in a playoff, Kirk popped to 24th on the SIWGR and 32nd on the OWGR.

The LIV Golf season kicked off at Mayakoba Resort in Mexico, and Charles Howell III won by four shots over Peter Uihlein, while Branden Grace finished third. Howell leaps from 117th to 48th on the SI list. Uihlein climbs from 70th to 50th, and Grace moves from No. 108 to 72.

Howell’s LIV Golf team, the Crushers, won the LIV team event, which is not factored in the SIWGR or the OWGR.

The top of both the SIWGR and the OWGR continue to align: both rankings have Jon Rahm at the top, followed by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. The SI list has Will Zalatoris fourth and Patrick Cantlay fifth, while the Nos. 4 and 5 in the OWGR are Cantlay and Cam Smith.

As a reminder, one of the key differences between the SIWGR and the OWGR is how the Sports Illustrated list only uses a player’s most recent 12 months of results when doing their calculation. And the most recent four months of results are weighted the strongest. There will be much more volatility in our list than the OWGR. Learn more about our calculations here, and look for a fresh update every Monday on SI.com/golf/rankings.

This Week’s 5 Biggest Risers

1. Charles Howell III, +69 to No. 48

Charles Howell III made a huge jump up the standings with his LIV Golf win at Mayakoba. — Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Chucky "Three Sticks” picked up his first LIV Golf victory at Mayakoba, winning by four strokes. That victory allowed him to jump way up in our rankings.

2. Branden Grace, +36 to No. 72

Branden Grace had a third place finish at LIV Golf Mayakoba. — John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Grace used a third-place finish at Mayakoba to shoot up the rankings.

3. Paul Casey, + 18 to No. 37

Casey finished fourth (nine shots behind the winner, Charles Howell III) in the LIV Golf season opener at Mayakoba and climbed all the way up to 37th in our rankings.

4. Matthew Wolff, +9 to No. 88

Wolff finished 10th at LIV Golf Mayakoba.

5. Chris Kirk, +7 to 24

Chris Kirk won the Honda Classic in dramatic fashion on Sunday. — ANDRES LEIVA/PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kirk, as we said above, jumped back into the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour for the first time in almost eight years and did so in dramatic fashion by winning in a playoff at the Honda Classic. Kirk was 31st in our rankings last week.

This Week’s 5 Biggest Fallers

1. Emiliano Grillo, -11 to No. 85

Emiliano Grillo didn’t play last week after finishing T67 at Riviera. He has missed three cuts in five tournaments since the Sony Open in January.

2. Alex Noren, -9 to No. 78

Alex Noren is pictured at the 2022 PGA Championship. — Orlando Ramirez/USA Today

Noren missed the cut in his last two events—Waste Management Open and Genesis Invitational.

3. Gary Woodland, -9 to No. 64

Gary Woodland watches a drive at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open. — Gregory Bull/AP

Woodland didn’t play in the Honda Classic but did finish T9 a week before at Riviera.

4. Kurt Kitayama, -9 to No. 44

USATSI_19934486 — Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports

Kitayama missed the cut in his last event - the Genesis Invitational.

5. Danny Willett, -8 to No. 98

Danny Willett falls down to 98th in our rankings. — Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Willett, a former Masters champion, had a T29 finish at the Honda Classic.

Published Feb 27, 2023

JEFF RITTER

Jeff Ritter is the managing director of SI Golf. He has more than 20 years of sports media experience, and previously was the general manager at the Morning Read, where he led that business's growth and joined SI as part of an acquisition in 2022. Earlier in his career he spent more than a decade at SI and Golf Magazine, and his journalism awards include a MIN Magazine Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a master's from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.