SI World Golf Rankings: Dustin Johnson Is Back, Just In Time for PGA Championship

Johnson won the LIV Tulsa event in sudden death. See how high he climbed in the latest Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings.

Jeff Ritter | May 15, 2023

SI World Golf Rankings: Dustin Johnson Is Back, Just In Time for PGA Championship /

Dustin Johnson appears to be heating up just in time for major championship season. The two-time major champ beat Branden Grace and Cam Smith in a playoff at LIV Golf’s Tulsa event, scoring his first LIV win in 2023. With the victory, he made a big move in this week’s Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings, our data-driven list of the top men’s players in the world.

The SIWGR awards points for all men’s pro tours, and D.J. jumped 17 spots to No. 22 in the world with his victory.

Johnson wasn’t the only big mover—both up and down—from LIV, as you’ll see below. Meanwhile on the PGA Tour, Jason Day broke a winless drought and popped up three spots to No. 24. The Nelson didn’t feature as many top-100 players as the LIV Tulsa event, so Day’s win earned him fewer points than D.J.’s. For more on how we run the list, check out this explainer that goes deep on our calculations.

Here are some notable risers and fallers on the SI World Golf Rankings list this week.

3 Risers in the SI World Golf Rankings

1

Dustin Johnson

This Week: 22

Last Week: 39

Skinny: Buried an 18-footer in sudden death at LIV Tulsa to clip Branden Grace and Cam Smith. Suddenly dangerous and lined up to play the next three major championships.

2

Branden Grace

This Week: 54

Last Week: 72

Skinny: Lost to D.J. in the LIV Tulsa playoff but recorded the lowest round in LIV history, a 9-under 61 in Round 1.

3

Bryson DeChambeau

This Week: 80

Last Week: 111

Skinny: Shot a second-round 63 in Tulsa and hung in for a T5 finish. Another former major champion who after some time battling injuries may be finding his form just in time for summer.

3 Fallers in the New SIWGR

1

Tom Kim

This Week: 28

Last Week: 23

Skinny: T34 at Byron Nelson but the hottest player at the end of last summer hasn’t quite been able to keep that form in 2023, and his ranking continues to reflect it.

2

K.H. Lee

This Week: 48

Last Week: 35

Skinny: The two-time champion at the Byron Nelson couldn’t pull off the three-peat this year, finishing T50. Lost last year’s W from his calculations, as the SIWGR uses the most recent 12 months of player results, leading to a pronounced drop on our list.

3

Sebastian Munoz

This Week: 59

Last Week: 48

Skinny: LIV Golfers can rise and fall quickly in our rankings, as they play fewer events than PGA Tour players. Munoz’s T30 in Tulsa wasn’t enough to keep him in our top 50.

Published May 15, 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.