Updated: Tiering the World's Best Golfers In 2026

For the first time since the start of the season, I’m updating my ranking of the best golfers in the world. There have been a few additions and deletions since the last iteration. With the Masters just around the corner, here’s how I view the top golfers in the world. 

A Few Notes

We dive deeper into this on the latest episode of the Fried Egg Golf Podcast, but one of my biggest takeaways from the Players Championship is that, for the first time in years, I’m considering that Scottie Scheffler may go through a downturn. I’m not suggesting that it is the most likely outcome, but for the first time in years, it feels plausible that he won’t be the best player in the world 12 months from now. Over his last three tournaments, Scheffler is losing nearly a stroke per round with his irons, historically a reliable strength. After a streak of 18 consecutive top-10 finishes, he has now finished outside the top 10 in three straight events. Of course, it’s possible he’ll win two majors this year and make skepticism look foolish. But for the first time in a while, I’m open to the idea that someone could overtake him as the world No. 1.

As someone who’s been preaching since 2022 that Cameron Young is a top-five caliber player in the world, I’m going to take a victory lap on that one. I fully believe that Cam is a top-five player right now. Looking back at the start of his career, it’s kind of insane that he finished one shot out of a playoff in two major championships in his first year on the PGA Tour. And that was back when he didn’t know how to putt! Now that he’s developed into a legitimately great putter, major championship wins are the next boxes for Cam to check. 

The following players have the most top-10 finishes in major championships since 2022, Young’s first year on Tour: 

Outside of Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, Young’s chances are as high as anybody’s to win the 2026 Masters. 

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I know some of you will take issue with where I’ve tiered Bryson DeChambeau and think he should be higher. He’s in the correct spot. Everybody above him is better. 

I’m putting Brooks Koepka in “It Could Happen” territory. I really don’t like Koepka’s chances of winning a major championship this year, but there’s nobody I’ve been more wrong about in the past than Koepka. He’s ranked third on Tour right now in Strokes Gained: Approach, creeping into the area of being taken seriously. I still have questions about the putter, which will be required to take down another major win, but he’s at least showing signs of becoming a legitimate threat again.