SI World Golf Rankings: What's Up With Phil Mickelson?

Phil Mickelson's runner-up this year at Augusta was stunning, but it's also fading into memory as his summer struggles continued at LIV Golf's London event. See how far he fell in this week's Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings.

Jeff Ritter | Jul 10, 2023

SI World Golf Rankings: What's Up With Phil Mickelson? /

It was a busy week in pro golf, as Sepp Straka flirted with a 59 before “settling” for 62 and the John Deere Classic title, while Cam Smith showed he’s British Open-ready while winning the LIV Golf London event.

They were the big winners but as ever, many players are on the move in this week’s Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings, our proprietary, data-driven list of the top men’s golfers in the world right now, which looks at performances across all pro tours, including LIV Golf. (Here’s how we do our calculations.)

Phil Mickelson hasn’t done much on the LIV Golf circuit this summer, and his 12-spot drop this week highlights the decliners. Here are some more notable moves this week.

3 Risers in the SI World Golf Rankings

Sepp Straka - Up 17 Spots

This Week: 35

Last Week: 52

Skinny: Put everyone on 59 Watch before double-bogeying the 72nd hole to give pursuers a chance to catch him. His 62 held up for his second career PGA Tour title. Is the Austrian now on the Ryder Cup radar?

Louis Oosthuizen - Up 21 Spots

Louis Oosthuizen is pictured at the 2022 LIV Golf Team Championship. — Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports

This Week:64

Last Week: 85

Skinny: Solo fourth at LIV’s London event. There were more top-100 players in the LIV event this week compared to the John Deere, so LIV players had a chance to earn more points toward their ranking.

Marc Leishman - Up 50 Spots

This Week: 87

Last Week: 137

Skinny: T2 at LIV London, despite a series of luggage-related mishaps this summer.

3 Fallers in the SI World Golf Rankings

Phil Mickelson - Down 12 Spots

This Week: 45

Last Week: 33

Skinny: Was buoyed by his runner-up at Augusta, but hasn’t been sharp since that Masters. His best LIV Golf finishes this year have been a tie for 11th at LIV Adelaide and a tie for 13th at LIV Singapore. He’s also had two results worse than 40th, and he tied for 40th at LIV London out of 48 competitors.

Joaquin Niemann - Down 7 Spots

Joaquin Niemann is pictured during the 2023 Masters. — Mark Baker/AP

This Week: 53

Last Week: 60

Skinny: Looked like a player on the rise before LIV Golf, but hasn’t made much noise on the new circuit (24th in the season standings this year). Finished T21 in London.

Gary Woodland - Down 14 Spots

Gary Woodland watches a chip shot at the 2023 Masters. — Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY Network

This Week: 84

Last Week: 70

Skinny: DNP at the John Deere.

Published Jul 10, 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.