If you want to know who the best golfers are in the world, especially amid the LIV Golf era, just look at the bookmaker’s odds.
Unlike the OWGR or the Ryder Cup standings and whatnot, bookmakers do not discriminate and/or hold any bias. They’re simply in it to win it.
So, we decided to aggerate the odds for the four majors and rank the 20 best American golfers… according to the bookies.
To no one’s surprise, Scottie Scheffler was not only the top American, he’s also the No. 1 betting favorite across all countries. Xander Schauffele was next at No. 2 with an average rank of 2.50. The two-time major winner in 2024 was basically deadlocked for the second spot with Rory McIlroy, who’s the No. 1 European golfer.
LIV Golf stars Bryson DeChambeau (5.50) and Brooks Koepka (6.75) were next, while Collin Morikawa (7.00) rounded out what were the clear top five American golfers.
Scheffler, Schauffele, DeChambeau, Koepka and Morikawa each held an average ranking of 7.00 or better – the only five players in the single digits.
Patrick Cantlay was locked in as the clear No. 6 American with an average rank of 11.25. The No. 7 spot was kind of a surprise with Justin Thomas, who’s struggled for the past couple of years. JT earned a respectable average rank of 14, and if not for a T21 ranking in the British Open, where he’s struggled badly, he’d be pushing Cantlay for the 7th spot.
The next four Americans, Nos. 8-11 (Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth, and Max Homa), were separated by just two points.
Finally, the 12th was a tight battle among five players – Will Zalatoris, Cam Young, Sam Burns, Dustin Johnson and Sahith Theegala.
Ryder Cup: Top 12 Americans
USA Rank-Player-Avg Rank (Rank for Masters, PGA, U.S. Open, British)
1. Scottie Scheffler – 1.00 (1, 1, 1, 1)
2. Xander Schauffele – 2.50 (2, 3, 2, 3)
3. Bryson DeChambeau – 5.50 (6, 5, 4, 7)
4. Brooks Koepka – 6.75 (7, 5, 7, 8)
5. Collin Morikawa – 7.00 (7, 9, 7, 5)
6. Patrick Cantlay – 11.25 (11, 10, 10, 14)
7. Justin Thomas – 14.00 (14, 10, 11, 21)
8. Wyndham Clark – 15.75 (12, 12, 13, 26)
9. Tony Finau – 16.00 (15, 22, 13, 14)
10. Jordan Spieth – 17.00 (11, 16, 21, 21)
11. Max Homa – 17.75 (15, 21, 12, 21)
12. Will Zalatoris – 21.75 (21, 12, 13, 41)
—
13. Cam Young – 22.25 (21, 21, 21, 26)
14. Sam Burns – 23.50 (28, 16, 20, 30)
15. Dustin Johnson – 23.75 (23, 22, 21, 29)
16. Sahith Theegala – 23.75 (23, 22, 21, 19)
17. Russell Henley – 29.00 (28, 27, 31, 30)
18. Akshay Bhatia – 34.00 (32, 37, 38, 29)
19. Brian Harman – 35.00 (36, 37, 38, 29)
20. Keegan Bradley – 41.50 (46, 37, 31, 52)
