(US, Mexico, and Canada customers only) February 6, 2026; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Jon Rahm in action during his third round match at LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters via Imagn Images LIV Golf’s inclusion in the Official World Golf Rankings continues to deliver early payouts to players. Jon Rahm jumped 14 places to 36th after winning in Hong Kong on Sunday.
This is the highest ranking for a Spanish player in over a year, as the former world number one has shown a steady rise since LIV Golf was incorporated into OWGR ahead of his debut in 2026. After falling to 84th place by the end of 2025, Rahm steadily rose to 67th and then 50th, with runner-up finishes in LIV’s first two events of the season.
He then went on to win by three strokes, his first individual tournament win since September 2024. With this, Ram rose to 36th place. This is the highest ranking since it ranked 34th in January 2025.
Long-term questions still remain about how the current system will affect the entire LIV Golf roster. Since only players who finish in the top 10 of each event will receive ranking points, Sergio Garcia was among the skeptics who pointed out that players who finished 11th or lower would be hurt by having zero points added to their ranking equation in the tournament.
In Hong Kong, it was a six-way tie for 8th place. Paul Casey, who finished tied for 14th, fell 8 points further in the world rankings to 838th. Graeme McDowell, tied for 8th place and one stroke ahead, rose 608 points to 900th place.
Of course, McDowell only competed in three non-LIV events last year and his ranking dropped to 2,103. Elvis Smylie, who also tied for 8th place in Hong Kong, remained at 73rd place.
Thomas Detry finished runner-up in Hong Kong, moving up nine places to 61st, while Thomas Pieters came in third, jumping 160 places to 270th.
For comparison, Akshay Bhatia moved up from No. 39 to a career-high No. 19 with a playoff win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Runner-up Daniel Berger has moved up 15 places into the coveted top 50 and currently sits at number 34.
–Field level media
