Tiering the Best Players in the World

With all four men’s majors complete in 2025, I’ve been reflecting on who the best players in the world currently are. Non-majors can be entertaining viewing experiences, and sometimes strong tests, but major championships are the ultimate measure of where a player stands in the sport. The below exercise represents who I’d trust in a major championship if one were hosted tomorrow, with one asterisked exception. It’s a mix of short-term and long-term performance, with a focus on who showed up in major championships in 2025. 

*Collin Morikawa is way too good to omit entirely, but I have serious concerns about his future. I’m still scarred by the range session I watched on Thursday afternoon. When Morikawa is in form, he’s one of the best ball-strikers on the planet. He also hasn’t won in two years. I feel strongly that the two-time major champion should be included in this exercise, but he’s on pause. If he teed off in a major championship tomorrow, I’d have zero expectations. 

If you’re looking at this graphic as a preview of the Ryder Cup, six of the above names are American and six are European, though I wouldn’t really consider Morikawa a part of this list for the purposes of the Ryder Cup. I’m skeptical he’ll be fixed by then. In all the Ryder Cup conversations happening, one element that I don’t think is being appreciated fully is that the only golfer we can expect to dominate at Bethpage with a high degree of confidence is Scottie Scheffler. There seems to be a lot of Team Europe enthusiasm, much of which is warranted. I just wouldn’t discount the advantage of having Scheffler on the American side. 

I can’t believe Patrick Cantlay missed the cut in three of four majors this year. 

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I anticipate getting more blowback for leaving Justin Thomas off this list than any other player. JT has one top-30 finish in a major championship in his last 14 major appearances. Until he can keep his driver in play, I’m not ranking him among the game’s best. 

You could sell me on Bryson DeChambeau belonging on the same tier as Rory McIlroy. I gave McIlroy some extra respect for the career grand slam accomplishment and for his incredible longevity. That said, I have immense respect for the state of DeChambeau’s game. He’s the best of the three golfers within his tier. 

Ok, that’s all for this week. Long term, I’m considering keeping these weekly updates to just the tiering exercises and breaking out the other sections into standalone pieces. If you have any feedback on what you’d like to see, you can reach me at joseph@thefriedegg.com.