SI World Golf Rankings: Varner Breaks Through in U.S.

Harold Varner earned his first win both at LIV and the U.S., while Emiliano Grillo prevailed at Colonial. See where they land in the new Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings.

Jeff Ritter | May 29, 2023

SI World Golf Rankings: Varner Breaks Through in U.S. /

There were two fresh winners on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf circuit on Sunday, and both players made big moves in the new Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings, our data-driven list of the best players in the game today.

On the PGA Tour, Emiliano Grillo double bogeyed the 72nd hole but still won in a playoff at Colonial. Grillo jumped 38 spots this week to No. 36 on the SIWGR.

On the LIV tour, Harold Varner III earned his first win since joining LIV Golf, taking the D.C. event by one shot over Branden Grace. It was Varner’s first pro win in the U.S., as his previous two professional wins were the Australian PGA Championship and the Saudi International.

Grillo and Varner grabbed the trophies, but of course there were many other big moves in the rankings this week as the SIWGR awards points for PGA Tour, LIV Tour and all other pro tour results. (Here’s how we do the calculations.) Here are some notable risers and fallers in the new SI World Golf Rankings.

3 Risers in the SI World Golf Rankings

1

Harold Varner III

This Week: 43

Last Week: 73

Skinny: Won his first career LIV event by prevailing in D.C. by one shot over Branden Grace.

2

Adam Schenk

This Week: 47

Last Week: 96

Skinny: Couldn’t finish off Grillo in sudden death at Colonial, but the solo second still gave him a big SIWGR bounce.

3

Rickie Fowler

This Week: 49

Last Week: 59

Skinny: Needed a big round on Sunday at Colonial to improve his Official World Golf Ranking and slip into the British Open field and he delivered, jumping to 46 in the OWGR and 49 on our list. He’ll be headed to Hoylake in July.

3 Fallers in the SIWGR

1

Charles Howell III

This Week: 52

Last Week: 43

Skinny: T31 in the 48-man LIV D.C. field.

2

Davis Riley

This Week: 65

Last Week: 53

Skinny: MC at Colonial last week and also lost last year’s T4 finish at Colonial from his calculations, as SIWGR uses only the last 12 months of results.

3

Scott Stallings

This Week: 81

Last Week: 69

Skinny: Like Riley, lost a T4 finish from last year’s Colonial in his calculations, and had an MC in Texas last week.

Published May 29, 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.