I Ranked LIV Golf's Top 40 Players... The Findings Were Interesting

Who are LIV Golf's best players? That was the question I wanted to answer.

We know Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are the league's two biggest stars, and Joaquin Niemann has become a winning machine.

We can access their world rankings, Data Golf standings and positions in the season-long individual posts list, but they're all scattered about on different websites, so it has been hard to truly know who the circuit's top players are beyond the obvious ones.

That was the task I set myself, and after collating where they sit in the Official World Golf Ranking, Data Golf rankings and the 2026 LIV points list, I feel like I've now got a pretty good idea of who the top players are at this stage in time.

Their OWGR positions need to be taken with a slight pinch of salt, as the circuit only secured points this year and some players teed it up in just the 12 events, while others played global schedules away from LIV, including the Majors.

Evidence of this was seen in Data Golf's list, which has over 50 LIV players inside the top 500, whereas the OWGR has just 44.

It does give a fairly good idea, though, and combined with the Data Golf list and season standings, we get a clearer picture.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the list (my full top 40 ranking is at the bottom of the page)...

A clear top five

According to the stats, LIV Golf has a clear top five – and I'm sure most would agree.

Jon Rahm is the undisputed best player in the league, as seen by his three consecutive individual titles, and his standings with the OWGR and Data Golf back that up.

Some might say his Major form has slipped since joining the circuit, but there can't be any arguments that, upon LIV Golf 1.0's conclusion, the Spaniard is the tour's best player.

Bryson DeChambeau is LIV's number two, and you can argue between Joaquin Niemann and Tyrrell Hatton for third and fourth spots. That top four has probably been clear for a couple of years now, and Lucas Herbert has joined them this season to round out the big five.

They combined for nine wins from the 12 tournaments this season and all sit in the top five of the 2026 LIV Golf money list.

The Australian now has eight professional victories around the world on various global tours, including two LIV Golf titles won in 2026. He also finished T6th at The Open and is in the league's top five for OWGR, Data Golf and the individual standings.

From there, it is perhaps a little tougher to rank the league's players and I've made a number of subjective calls that I'm sure many will disagree with. If you do, I'd love to hear why in the comments section below.

Cameron Smith

After a clear-cut top five, the positions from six to 15 are a bit more subjective.

If you compile a list purely based on statistics, LIV's sixth-best player is probably Thomas Detry - but I have him in seventh behind Cameron Smith.

Smith makes the top 10 on data, but I have bumped him up to number six because of his standing in the game and perhaps a little bit of my own personal belief in him.

He has not had his best year and missed three Majors cuts, but a T7 at the PGA Championship after linking up with Claude Harmon showed that he isn't washed up or lacking motivation, like some might claim.

For me, he has the best short game in the world and I am semi-confident we'll see him have some big moments again as he's still only 33. He managed four top-10s in the LIV Golf League this year, highlighted by a fourth-place recently in the UK.

Vincent legitimately in the top 10

An interesting finding I discovered from my research was that Scott Vincent is undoubtedly one of the league's top 10 players as things stand.

The Zimbabwean made his way to LIV twice via the Asian Tour, and he has played on HyFlyers GC this season in place of the absent Phil Mickelson. He was comfortably the team's best player and sits 9th in my rankings.

It's a good success story from the league's link-up with the Asian Tour, and it's perhaps evidence that losing that to the PGA and DP World Tours is problematic.

LIV finally secured OWGR points for the 2026 campaign and its partnership with the Asian Tour, via the International Series, was a key factor in that.

Whether LIV 2.0 goes ahead or not, Vincent is certainly a player we can expect more of in the coming years. The 34-year-old has three Japan Golf Tour wins and two International Series titles, and he finished 10th in the individual standings this season thanks to four top-five finishes.

While some may say a number of LIV players have regressed, he is a clear example of a player who has grown in stature and improved on the tour.

Only three Americans

My top 20 features just three Americans: DeChambeau, Harold Varner III and Dustin Johnson.

This is a polar opposite of the OWGR top 20, which features nine USA players, and Data Golf's top 20 (11). The PGA Tour's regular season FedExCup top 20 also had 11 Americans.

This suggests the best American golfers do not play on LIV Golf, which is perhaps an obvious assessment, but it's a fact when you look down the list.

It also shows the international flavor to the league, as there are 11 different nationalities in my top 20.

Spaniards

Of the 11 nationalities, none is better represented in the top 20 than Spain.

Four of LIV's top 17 players in my rankings are Spanish (Jon Rahm, David Puig, Sergio Garcia and Josele Ballester), so does LIV have the world's best Spanish male golfers? Undoubtedly.

There hasn't been a Spanish winner on the PGA Tour since Rahm left three years ago, and there actually isn't a single Spanish golfer currently holding a PGA Tour card.

That will change next year when Eugenio Chacarra gets promoted from the DP World Tour. I'd certainly say Chacarra is among his country's top five players, which means LIV has the four, or at least four of the five, best Spanish male golfers on the planet.

You can see why the Valderrama stop has been a success.

Shout-outs

LIV's roster gets a lot of criticism, whether that's the age of the players, their lack of Major starts or claims they no longer have the drive due to the guaranteed money.

My research shows a number of players who some may think are past it certainly aren't. Marc Leishman ranks as the 8th-best LIV Golfer in Data Golf's list, while Branden Grace makes my top 15 despite being relegated in 2024 and winless since 2022.

Sergio Garcia, now 46, definitely still has it, while Abraham Ancer makes my top 10 even though he's played in just one Major over the last three years.

And in another success story for LIV's Asian Tour pathway, Richard T Lee was very close to my top 25 after earning his card via LIV Golf Promotions last year.

The Canadian-Korean, who has three Asian Tour titles and three Korean Tour wins, finished 16th in his debut LIV season. He lost out to Bryson DeChambeau in a play-off in Singapore and ended the year with a T5 in Indianapolis.

Like Vincent, he is another who we can expect to hear plenty more from, even if LIV 2.0 doesn't come to fruition.

So, what is my ranking? Let's take a look at the top 40:

Ranking LIV Golf's top 40 players:

What do you make of my findings? Let me know in the comments section below.

LIV Golf rankings: OWGR, Data Golf, Points standings averages

For those interested in the numbers that made up my methodology, here are LIV's top 43 players in order of their OWGR, Data Golf and 2026 points list averages.

Note: OWGR and Data Golf numbers are where they rank vs other LIV Golf League players, not their official rankings. So, for example, Jon Rahm is No.1 in OWGR as he is the highest-ranked LIV player. He is officially 12th at the time of writing.