SI World Golf Rankings: To the Viktor Goes the Spoils

Viktor Hovland won the Memorial, got the coveted handshake from Jack Nicklaus and earned a new all-time high spot in the latest SI World Golf Rankings.

Jeff Ritter | Jun 5, 2023

SI World Golf Rankings: To the Viktor Goes the Spoils /

Viktor Hovland established himself as a big-event threat once and for all on Sunday at Memorial, where after a season of close-calls and near-misses, he beat Denny McCarthy in sudden death to win the Memorial, which is one of the Tour’s designated events of 2023 and therefore offered a massive $3.6 million first-place check.

Hovland moved up to No. 6 in the new SI World Golf Rankings released Monday, June 5. But with such an elite field at the Memorial, there were other big movers up and down our list. (See how we do it here.)

3 Risers in the SI World Golf Rankings

1

Viktor Hovland

This Week: 6

Last Week: 8

Skinny: A two-spot jump isn’t a big move on the surface, but symbolically Hovland has now reached the upper tier of players in the rankings. Still two majors to go this summer and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him win either one.

2

Si Woo Kim

This Week: 23

Last Week: 40

Skinny: Drifted a bit after winning Sony Open in January, but tied for second at the Byron Nelson in May before a solo fourth at Jack’s place.

3

Denny McCarthy

This Week: 29

Last Week: 56

Skinny: Kicking away Memorial with bogeys on the 72nd hole and first hole of sudden death will sting, but still a player on the rise with a putting stroke that will play anywhere.

3 Fallers in the New SI World Golf Rankings

1

Patrick Cantlay

This Week: 7

Last Week: 5

Skinny: Like Hovland, this move is symbolic, but Cantlay's winless year continued at Memorial, where he never contended and finished T30.

2

Joaquin Niemann

This Week: 54

Last Week: 40

Skinny: No LIV event last week so no opportunity to earn points, as the SIWGR awards points for LIV and all men’s pro events in the world. But Niemann’s quiet summer at LIV and in the majors is catching up to him.

3

Trey Mullinax

This Week: 98

Last Week: 90

Skinny: MC at the Memorial.

Published Jun 5, 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.