SI World Golf Rankings: Phil Mickelson Makes Monster Move After 2023 Masters Runner-Up

Mickelson’s leap in our data-driven list was eye-popping, and he’s not the only player to see a big change coming out of Augusta.

Author:
Jeff Ritter
Publish date:
Apr 10, 2023

Masters week was epic once again, as Jon Rahm cruised past Brooks Koepka during the final round’s front nine and sailed home to win for four shots. We are tracking World Rankings weekly here, but you don’t need data to tell you that Rahm deserves to be the No. 1 player in the world this week.

The numbers also support it.

Rahm passed Scottie Scheffler for the top spot in the latest SI Golf World Rankings, which launched Monday. Scheffler, who’s having a tremendous year in his own right and finished T10 at Augusta, is a solid No.2 on the SI list.

But there are big moves up and down the ranks, led by Phil Mickelson thanks to his stunning runner-up Masters finish. This week Mickelson jumped—wait for it—132 spots in our ranking, up to 26 in the world.

The Masters was the first time this year that PGA Tour and LIV golfers teed it up in the same event, and the SIWGR awards points to players on both tours, with majors counting extra. (Here’s a full explanation of how we do our calculations). Here are more risers and fallers coming out of Augusta.

3 Risers in the SI World Golf Rankings

SI World Golf Rankings: Week of April 10

1

Phil Mickelson

This week: 26

Last week: 169

Skinny: What a finish at Augusta! What a move on the list! Mickelson has done practically nothing since winning the 2021 PGA Championship, including denting a leaderboard on the LIV tour. But a runner-up in the biggest points week of the year will leave a mark, and just like that, Phil is back in the our world top 30.

2

Brooks Koepka

This week: 13

Last week: 53

Skinny: Another LIV golfer on the move. Koepka has earned points on our list for his wins on the LIV circuit, but the Masters featured a field unlike any other, plus bonus points for its major-championship status. Koepka could’ve out-dueled Rahm, but he showed he’s a top-15 player at this moment.

3

Gary Woodland

This week: 73

Last week: 102

Skinny: PGA Tour players also made big moves this week. Woodland didn’t factor at the 2022 Masters, which just fell off his calculation in the SIWGR, but recorded a solid T14 on Sunday to make a big move.

3 Fallers in the SI World Golf Rankings

1

Dustin Johnson

This week: 35

Last week: 24

Skinny: Made the cut at Augusta but plodded along to a T48 finish. His T12 at last year’s Masters fell off his calculations, as the SIWGR only uses the most recent 12 months in its calculations.

2

Corey Conners

This week: 49

Last week: 34

Skinny: Fresh off a win at the Valero one week ago, a surprise MC in tough conditions at the Masters.

3

Lee Westwood

This week: 95

Last week: 77

Skinny: The LIV golfer didn’t qualify for this year’s Masters and therefore earned no points last week and dropped because of it.