OWGR: Cam Smith bumps Rory McIlroy down after Open; Jon Rahm lowest since ’19

Cam Smith didn’t just overtake Rory McIlroy for the claret jug on Sunday. 

Smith, who notched his first major victory at the 150th Open, moved up to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, bumping McIlroy down from No. 2 to No. 3. 

It is Smith’s highest ranking of his career. The Aussie, who has now won three times this year, came into The Open ranked sixth in the world. 

McIlroy held a share of the 54-hole lead at St. Andrews by four shots. However, the Northern Irishman shot a bogey-free 70 to Smith’s bogey-free 64 and finished a solo-third. 

McIlroy, still, has jumped five spots in the world rankings since the start of 2022 thanks to a stretch where his worst finish since the Masters has been a T-19 at the Travelers Championship, where he held the Day 1 lead. In three out of the year’s four majors, the 33-year-old has posted a top-5 while also placing solo-eighth at the PGA Championship. 

PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young, who finished runner-up to Smith by a stroke, moved from No. 32 to 19, cracking the world’s top 20 for the first time in his career. 

Full-field scores from the 150 th Open Championship

Meanwhile, Jon Rahm, who was world No. 1 from June 2021 to March ’22, has dropped from No. 3 to No. 5, his lowest ranking since September 2019. The Spaniard finished T-34 at St. Andrews. 

Xander Schauffele fell one spot to No. 6 despite coming into The Open with two straight wins (Travelers and Genesis Scottish Open). Schauffele placed T-15 at the Old Course and hasn’t finished outside the top 20 since his MC at the Masters. 

Aside from Smith, the biggest mover inside the top 20 was Dustin Johnson. The former world No. 1 jumped two spots to No. 16 after a T-6 finish. However, Johnson isn’t expected to play another Tour event this year as he is suspended by the Tour for defecting to LIV Golf. He, along with other LIV defectors, will likely see their world ranking decline as LIV events do not offer world ranking points. The Saudi-backed league, however, did recently apply for such designation.