Jon Rahm reached an unwanted low this week after dropping out of the world's top 50 for the first time since early 2017.
The Spaniard was World No.1 this time two years ago but now finds himself 52nd in the Official World Golf Ranking - a system he has been critical of in the past.
Rahm made the big money move to LIV Golf at the end of 2023 while ranked 3rd in the world after winning four times that year including The Masters. It's a similar story to Cameron Smith, who joined LIV at World No.2 just weeks after winning The Open in 2022. Two-and-a-half years later the Australian is on the brink of falling from the world's top 100, with the Australian currently ranked 96th.
LIV Golf gave up on its quest for Official World Golf Ranking points last year after then-CEO Greg Norman told his players that “a resolution which protects the accuracy, credibility and integrity of the OWGR rankings no longer exists."
Rahm recently called the OWGR's decision to not sanction LIV Golf as "wrong" and "not fair."
While he officially isn't ranked inside the world's top 50, he is still one of the world's best golfers - as Data Golf and The Universal Golf Rankings show.
With the OWGR not awarding points for LIV Golf events, it has led to some fans questioning the legitimacy of the system, and it has perhaps placed more importance on alternative rankings to really gauge who the best male golfers currently are.
Rahm sits 4th in Data Golf's rankings, which is a Strokes Gained system that is "determined by averaging the field-strength adjusted scores of each golfer across professional and amateur tournaments, with more recent rounds receiving more weight."
Scottie Scheffler is ranked 1st in Data Golf's list, with Rory McIlroy 2nd and Xander Schauffele 3rd.
The Universal Golf Rankings is another system that considers LIV Golf tournaments, and Rahm is even higher up in that list.
He sits 3rd in TUGR, which is another Strokes Gained-based system.
The Universal Golf Rankings' metric is based on three points:
- Gather head-to-head scores, player-by-player over the past 18 months.
- Let a powerful computer calculate rankings with incredible precision.
- The output is relative strokes per round to the best player in the world.
Rahm is behind Scheffler in 1st and Schauffele in 2nd with TUGR.
The two-time Major champion enjoyed an impressive debut season in LIV Golf last year, where he won in the UK and Chicago before wrapping up the individual title for a huge $18m bonus.
His form in the Majors was mixed, however, with a T45 at The Masters, MC at the PGA Championship and a T7 at The Open. He did not play in the US Open due to injury.
In total, he played in seven OWGR-sanctioned events last year, with a best finish of 2nd coming at the Open de Espana.
And while the OWGR is an important metric for qualifying for Majors, Rahm currently has no worries as he is in The Masters for life and the US Open until 2031. He is in the PGA Championship and The Open until 2028 thanks to his 2023 Masters victory.
