Latest world golf rankings: Breaking down this week’s top 15, including Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele

Robert MacIntyre climbs back into the top 15 of this week’s world golf rankings. He jumped one spot over Brian Harman. MacIntyre shot 5-under 65 to finish tied for seventh at the FedEx St. Jude Championship over the weekend. He also moved up five spots in the FedEx Cup standings to solidify his chances of making the Tour Championship.

Also read: Breaking down last week’s top 15 of the World Golf Rankings

Russell Henley remained at No. 14 in the world golf rankings this week. Henley had a tough third round, shooting a 3-over 73, to eventually tie for 30^th. As a result, he fell four spots to No. 17 in the FedEx Cup standings entering the BMW Championship. Henley had four bogeys compared to just one birdie on Saturday.

However, he was able to turn things around in Sunday’s final round with a 4-under 66, highlighted by making three birdies on the final four holes.

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Sahith Theegala also remained in his previous position in the world golf rankings at No. 13. Theegala struggled this week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, placing 46^th at 1-over par. However, because of how well Theegala has played this year, he only dropped one spot in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 8.

Also, he has a lead of about 500 points over Tony Finau for the sixth and final automatic spot for the Team USA Presidents Cup squad. The six automatic qualifiers will be announced following the BMW Championship.

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Tommy Fleetwood dropped one spot to No. 12 in the latest world golf rankings. The reigning Olympic Silver Medalist tied for 22nd at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at 6-under. He will have his work cut out from him this week at the BMW Championship.

He enters the week at No. 31 in the standings. As a result, if Fleetwood wants to compete for the FedEx Cup next week in Atlanta, he will have to play his way into position to get inside the top 30.  

Also read: 2024 Summer Olympics: The 10 biggest winners and losers from the men’s golf event

Jon Rahm also dropped one spot in the rankings to No. 11. Rahm was looking to defeat Koepka again like he did when the two were in the final group at the Masters in 2023. However, Koepka pulled through and made three straight birdies on the back nine before Rahm caught up with back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17.

Both made par on the par-3 18^th, leading to a playoff. The difference was Rahm going into the bunker while Koepka was 25 feet away. Despite the loss, Rahm overtook the spot in the individual standings heading into the final event of the season in Chicago.

Also read: 2024 Summer Olympics: The 10 biggest winners and losers from Round 3 of the men’s golf event

Bryson DeChambeau also dropped one spot in this week’s rankings to No. 10. DeChambeau came in 18^th place this past week at the Greenbrier. He was not able to score as high as Rahm, with his best round coming with a 5-under par score in the second on Friday. However, Rahm and DeChambeau now prepare for the final individual event of the year in Chicago in a few weeks.

Related: Where Bryson DeChambeau’s second U.S. Open title stands on the list of winners

Patrick Cantlay continues the trend of moving down a spot in the world golf rankings to No. 9. Cantlay tied for 12^th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, which was fueled by back-to-back 4-under 66s on the weekend. As a result, he moved up two spots in the standings to be inside the top 10 heading into this week’s BMW Championships. He is looking to keep that momentum rolling in the Rocky Mountain State.

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Viktor Hovland also dropped a spot to No. 8 in the world golf rankings. However, this comes as Hovland got back on track, recording his best finish of the season. He was the co-runner-up to Matsuyama at 15-under par. As a result, he rose 41 spots to No. 16 and is now in an offensive position to move up the standings at the BMW Championship.

The opportunity to defend his FedEx Cup looks more inevitable than it did before last week. In addition, Hovland was one of three players to get inside the top 50 of the standings.

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The final player in this stretch to drop one spot in the world golf rankings was Collin Morikawa, who moved to No. 7 this week. Morikawa tied for 22^nd in Memphis and retained his fourth-place spot in the standings heading into the BMW Championship. Morikawa is looking to build off his final round 3-under 67 going into Colorado as he was the first player on the driving range on Monday.

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With the win, Hideki Matsuyama rose six spots to No. 6 in this week’s world golf rankings. Matsuyama, who recorded his second win of the season, did so in unusual circumstances. He won in Memphis without his caddie and coach, who were robbed at a London airport following the Olympics. Matsuyama’s caddie and team also had their passports stolen, which meant that they were unable to make it to Memphis.

As a result, he used Ryo Hisatsune’s caddie, Taiga Tabuchi. As Matsuyama’s team looks to find their way back to America to be with Matsuyama, he rose five spots to No. 3 in the standings.

Also read: Who has the most major wins of all time and who the current stars, like Matsuyama, looking up to?

Wyndham Clark remained at No. 5 in the world golf rankings. Clark finished tied for seventh this week in Memphis at 12-under par. However, because of Matsuyama, he dropped one spot in the standings to No. 6. This past week marked Clark’s first tournament with all four rounds in the 60s since his back-to-back top 10 performances at the Travelers Championship and the Scottish Open seven weeks ago.

Clark will look to ride that momentum heading into the BMW Championship, which will be played in his home state of Colorado.

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Ludvig Aberg is No. 4 this week in the world golf rankings. Aberg struggled a bit this week at TPC Southwind in Memphis, scoring 3-under par and tying for 40^th. Like Theegala, his birdie-bogey numbers were similar (13-10) while having 45 pars and two double bogeys. Aberg was also second to last with -3.676 strokes gained around the green.

However, like Clark, Abegr dropped only one spot in the standings to No. 7 entering this week.  

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No player had a more difficult week than Rory McIlroy, who remains at No. 3 in the world golf rankings. After an opening round 2-under 68, it was all downhill from there for the three-time FedEx Cup Champion. McIlroy shot his remaining three rounds 11-over par to finish tied for second to last with Jordan Spieth, who will be undergoing wrist surgery.

For McIlroy, he will have to turn the page quickly as he dropped to No. 5 in the standings heading into Colorado for the BMW Championship.

Also read: Where Rory McIlroy on the list of PGA Championship winners

Xander Schauffele sits at No. 2 this week in the world golf rankings. Schauffele finished alongside Hovland as the runners-up in Memphis this week. The two-time major champion recorded all four rounds in the 60s. He nearly chipped in for birdie on the final hole to go into the clubhouse with the lead (before Matsuyama made birdies on the final two holes).

Schauffele ultimately shot a bogey-free 7-under 63 in Sunday’s final round, something that he hopes to continue in Colorado.

Also read: A look at every Open Championship winner: Where Xander Schauffele stands as a Claret Jug holderChampionship winners

Scottie Scheffler remains in the top spot of the world golf rankings. Last week, Scheffler became the fifth player to be No. 1 in the world golf rankings. He joined the quartet of McIlroy (122 weeks), Dustin Johnson (135), Greg Norman (331) and Tiger Woods (683).

As Scottie is on the top spot for the 101^st time this week, he enters the BMW Championship coming off a fourth-place finish in Memphis. He still has a 1,500-point lead on Schauffele for the top spot in the standings.

Also read: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler takes major shot at current FedEx Cup Playoff system to determine the FedEx Cup Champion