In April, during the Masters, Jon Rahm sat in his pre-tournament press conference and was asked where he thought he stood in the world rankings, regardless of his position on the official World Golf Rankings.
“Where am I in the rankings?” Rahm said, laughing. “I’m already out of the top 100?”
As a member of LIV Golf, Rahm has limited opportunities to earn OWGR points as LIV is not currently accredited. While LIV works towards OWGR accreditation, the Saudi-backed league’s players have plummeted in the world rankings in recent years. Rahm, who was once the No. 1 golfer in the world, has fallen to 87. Dustin Johnson is 636. Brooks Koepka, who recently left LIV Golf, is at 244. Only Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau are in the top 30.
With the OWGR unable to properly rate LIV’s players, Rahm sees some of his fellow competitors being underestimated by the rankings and the golf world as a whole.
Rahm went to the final episode of WAVES Subpar podcast and offered his list of the most underrated players in the breakaway league.
Rahm’s list starts with a player who has a win in each of the past two seasons at LIV: Dean Burmester.
“I think Dean Burmester is a little underrated,” Rahm told co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “He’s such a good player, especially when things get tough. He hits the ball low. He’s very good in the wind.”
Burmester joined LIV in 2023. He won LIV Miami in 2024 and LIV Chicago in 2025.
Rahm’s list continued with a little surprise when he mentioned Joaquin Niemann, who won five times on LIV in 2025. According to Rahm, Niemann’s inability to find success in the majors has led many to not fully appreciate the Chilean’s talent.
“I still think that Joaquin, because I’ve seen him play and he hasn’t played at his best in the majors, [Niemann] is underrated,” Rahm said. ‘He hasn’t played at his best [in majors]but what I’ve seen from him over the past two years is incredible. He has won seven times in 26 starts. It’s decent.”
Niemann earned his first top-15 finish at a major at the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club. But he missed the cut at the US Open and Open Championship and has yet to feature in a major championship this weekend.
The third and final member of Rahm’s list is one of the youngest members on LIV Golf: David Puig.
“I’m going to put someone in there that we don’t know, I’m going to put David Puig in there,” Rahm said. “I think he’s one of those where, if the world rankings count, he’s been able to put himself closer to the top 100 by playing all over the planet in events that might not be as important as those at LIV. I think he’s someone who’s a lot better than the rankings clearly reflected and people don’t know it yet.”
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