Ranking the Top 10 Golfers Ahead of the 2023 US Open
Matt Fitzpatrick is the most wanted man in golf.
OK, to be specific, it's Fitzpatrick's status as reigning U.S. Open champion that every competitor in the field is hoping to wrest from him this week in southern California.
Fitzpatrick shot three rounds of 68 to earn his first career major last June by a one-stroke margin over Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Now 28, the Florida-based Englishman will aim to make it two straight when the field gathers this week on the North Course at the Los Angeles Country Club.
The B/R golf team read the latest news, analyzed each player's past several starts, looked at past results in majors and weighed the current world ranking to come up with a list of the top 10 players at this year's event, which runs Thursday through Sunday.
Scroll through to see how the elite contenders stack up.
10. Max Homa
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 7
Best of 2023: Homa was a two-shot winner over Keegan Bradley at the Farmers Insurance Open thanks to the final-round 66 he shot at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
Why He's Here: That victory in California is one of seven top-10 finishes in 2023 for Homa, who was also second at the Genesis Invitational and tied for third at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He started the year ranked 17th in the world and has moved up 10 spots.
U.S. Open History: Four U.S. Open berths haven't amounted to much so far, with three cuts in 2013, 2020 and 2021 followed by a tie for 47th last year.
9. Tyrrell Hatton
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 14
Best of 2023: There hasn't been a win but Hatton did play well in one of his more significant events, shooting a final-round 65 to grab second behind Scheffler at The Players Championship.
Why He's Here: The second-place finish was one of seven top-10 endings for Hatton, who has a pair of third and four more from fourth to 10th. He's also had five top-10 finishes at majors, though they all came from 2016 to 2019.
U.S. Open History: He's played the tournament six times and was a factor in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills, climbing to a tie for 10th after 54 holes and carding a 69 across the final 18 holes to get into a sixth-place tie with Daniel Berger, Xander Schauffele and Henrik Stenson.
8. Cameron Smith
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 9
Best of 2023: The 29-year-old Aussie is the first player on our list to have defected to the LIV tour, where he won once last summer in Chicago and lost to Dustin Johnson in a playoff last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Why He's Here: It's not because of his LIV efforts. Instead, it's because he's got seven top-10 finishes in majors including a win at The Open Championship that came after a final-round 64 erased a four-shot deficit and yielded a one-shot defeat of Cameron Young.
U.S. Open History: Smith's fourth-place U.S. Open tie was his first top-10 finish at a major but it's getting to be a while ago, having come in 2015 when he shot 70, 70, 69 and 68 to wind up two shots behind winner Jordan Spieth.
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7. Viktor Hovland
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 5
Best of 2023: Hovland's best finish of the year just happened to have come in his most recent event, in which he shot four rounds of 71 or below and won The Memorial in a playoff over Denny McCarthy earlier this month at Murifield Village.
Why He's Here: The win plus four other top-10 finishes have boosted Hovland from 10th to fifth in the world rankings and he's finished no worse than a tie for seventh in each of his last three majors, including a tie for second at the PGA Championship in May.
U.S. Open History: Four appearances have yielded a mixed bag for Hovland, who tied for 12th as the low amateur in 2019 and tied for 13th a year later but withdrew in 2020 and missed the cut in 2021.
6. Xander Schauffele
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 6
Best of 2023: Two top-threes and four more top-10 results have produced high watermarks for this year for Schauffele, who was second at the Wells Fargo Championship and tied for third at The American Express.
Why He's Here: Schauffele is a consistent top-10 finisher in majors, winding up there 10 times in 24 career events. He tied for second at The Open Championship in 2018 and was tied for second again at The Masters in 2019.
U.S. Open History: Schauffele has played the tournament six times and never placed worse than a tie for 14th last year. He was tied for third in 2019, finished fifth in both 2017 and 2020, and has additional finishes in sixth and seventh.
5. Patrick Cantlay
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 4
Best of 2023: Cantlay has won at least one event each year for the last four but he's still seeking a first in 2023, having peaked thus far with third at the RBC Heritage in April and The Genesis Invitational in February.
Why He's Here: He's been the world's fourth-ranked player for nearly the entire season thus far and has two top-10s across the last three majors, including a tie for ninth at the PGA Championship last month.
U.S. Open History: It's a futures proposition when it comes to Cantlay, who's gone from 43rd to 15th to 14th across the last three U.S. Opens. He has made the cut in each of seven tries, though, dating back to a tie for 21st as the low amateur in 2011.
4. Rory McIlroy
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 3
Best of 2023: The 34-year-old has been all over the leaderboard this year, winning once and picking up five other top-10 results across 11 total events. The win came in January at the DP World Tour's Hero Dubai Desert Classic, which he took by a shot over Patrick Reed.
Why He's Here: Good 2023 or not, he's here because he's Rory McIlrory. The Northern Irishman is among the game's most decorated players thanks to four major victories and 16 top-fives among the 46 majors at which he's made the cut.
U.S. Open History: It's been 12 years but it's a guarantee McIlroy can still remember his wire-to-wire win at Congressional Country Club, where he shot four rounds of 69 or lower and earned an eight-stroke victory over Jason Day.
3. Brooks Koepka
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 13
Best of 2023: He's been controversial thanks to his allegiance to the LIV tour but he found success there with a win in 2022 and another this spring at the rival league's event in Orlando. He followed that with a two-shot win at the PGA Championship in May.
Why He's Here: He won the most recent major. He's won four others. And his 18 top-10 finishes in 36 career majors are emblematic of his standing as the game's premier clutch-time competitor. If he's healthy, he's a factor. Period.
U.S. Open History: Two of those other four majors came at the U.S. Open, which Koepka won in consecutive years in 2017 and 2018. He was also tied for fourth or better at the event in 2014, 2019 and 2021.
2. Jon Rahm
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 2
Best of 2023: Four of Rahm's 20 career victories have come already this season at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, The American Express, The Genesis Invitational and, saving the best for last, The Masters, where he beat Koepka and Phil Mickelson by four.
Why He's Here: As if the roll he's been on already in 2023 weren't enough, Rahm is a two-time major winner and has been a stud in the most recent majors, with 10 top-10 finishes in the biggest events since the Masters in 2018.
U.S. Open History: His initial major victory came at the U.S. Open in 2021, when he shot a final-round 67 to jump from a three-way tie for sixth all the way to a one-shot win over Louis Oosthuizen. He was also tied for third behind winner Gary Woodland in 2019.
1. Scottie Scheffler
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Official World Golf Ranking: No. 1
Best of 2023: Scheffler was a four-time winner in 2022 and has kept the roll going this year, winning twice more and finishing in the top 10 in 10 of 13 starts. The wins came by two shots at the WM Phoenix Open in February and by five at The Players Championship in March.
Why He's Here: Six wins in less than two full seasons have jumped the now-26-year-old (he'll turn 27 on June 21) from a No. 14 ranking at the start of 2022 to his current No. 1 perch, which he's held in this run since finishing second at the PGA Championship last month.
U.S. Open History: Scheffler has been 10th or better in eight of the last 11 majors, including ties for seventh and second at the last two U.S. Opens. The 2022 event saw him finish a single shot behind Fitzpatrick after he'd led by a shot through seven holes in the final round.
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