SI World Golf Rankings: Vincent Norrman Makes Leap After Win at Irish Open

Author:
Jeff Ritter
Publish date:
Sep 11, 2023

Rory McIlroy was the headliner at last week’s Irish Open, but Sweden’s Vincent Norrman emerged as the big winner.

Norrman shot a bogey-free 65 on Sunday to erase a six-shot final-round deficit and claim the title by one shot. It was Norrman’s second career win and second this year, as he also won the Barbasol Championship in July. McIlroy began the day in contention but faded on Sunday with a disappointing 74.

And so Norrman makes a big leap this week, up 51 spots to No. 128 in this week’s Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings, our proprietary, data-driven list of the top 100 men’s golfers in the world right now. Here’s how we run our numbers.

The PGA Tour’s Fortinet Championship is set for this week, along with the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. Expect to see some movement in these rankings next Monday. Here's a closer look at the risers and fallers this week.

3 Risers in the SI World Golf Rankings

Vincent Norrman - Up 51 Spots

This Week: 128

Last Week: 179

Skinny: Fired a bogey-free 65 on Sunday to win the Irish Open.

Ryan Fox - Up 9 Spots

Winner Ryan Fox is pictured in the fourth round of the 2022 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. — Malcolm Mackenzie/Golffile

This Week: 79

Last Week: 70

Skinny: T3 at the Irish Open, two shots behind Norrman.

Shubhankar Sharma – Up 6 Spots

This Week: 141

Last Week: 147

Skinny: Hung around the lead all week at K Club before shooting 1-under on Sunday to finish T7.

3 Fallers in This Week's SI World Golf Rankings

Shane Lowry - Down 9 Spots

Shane Lowry watches a shot at the 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina. — Stephen B. Morton/AP

This Week: 62

Last Week: 53

Skinny: Tied for third at the Irish, so why the drop? Lowry won the BMW PGA Championship last year during this same week, and the SIWGR uses the most recent 12 months of player results in the calculations. So that win fell off his calculation, and while the T3 was strong it was still a net-negative in our math.

Billy Horschel - Down 11 Spots

Billy Horschel on the practice green during the final round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament. — David Yeazell/USA TODAY Sports

This Week: 89

Last Week: 78

Skinny: T45 at the Irish as one of the few Americans in the field.

Thomas Detry - Down 6 Spots

This Week: 97

Last Week: 103

Skinny: Lost a fifth-place finish from 2022 at Wentworth from his calculations this week. T23 at Irish Open.