After months of anticipation, golf‘s Major season is almost upon us.

Cameron Young’s victory at the Players’ Championship marked the start of the new golf season when it comes to the big tournaments, with many regarding the Florida event as the fifth Major.

What it does signal though, is a Major tournament every month from now on, with the Masters due to take place in April, followed by the PGA Championship in May, the US Open in June and then the Open in July.

The big names of Rory McIlroy – who finally completed the career Grand Slam at Augusta National last year – and Scottie Scheffler are sure to be there or thereabouts when it comes to the top 10 of the biggest tournaments the sport has to offer, but there are a number of relative newcomers on the block too, hoping to break their Major ducks.

Here at GIVEMESPORT we thought we’d have a look through the statistics and rank the top the golfers in the world right now, based on the brass tacks of facts and figures – and there are some surprising returns.

We took the stats for scoring average; strokes gained; strokes gained tee-to-green; ball striking; greens in regulation and putting average and then gave the top ten in each metric a score from 10-1. So, if you were ranked number one in a metric you got ten points and so on and so forth.

10

David Lipsky

Certain golf fans may have only been alerted to David Lipsky’s ability in the last week or so. The 37-year-old American finished second behind Matt Fitzpatrick at the Valspar Championship, just one shot behind the Englishman in the final standings. Lipsky impresses in the strokes gained category and the putting average to take his place at No.10 on the list of the top ten golfers on the PGA Tour right now.

9

Akshay Bhatia

Akshay Bhatia is in great form heading into the Major season. The American finished third at the Phoenix Open and tied sixth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February before a 16th-placed finish in the Genesis Invitational. He would go on to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational before finishing 13th at the Players. He also performs well in the strokes gained metric and has a good putting average, making him a top contender.

8

Jordan Smith

The first Englishman on this list and he, like Lipsky, shot to prominence with a fine performance in the Valspar Championship, finishing third behind Fitzpatrick and Lipsky. He has been a bit hit-and-miss in terms of making cuts in the lead-up to that Valspar run, but ranks very highly when it comes to ball striking and is strong tee-to-green too. An impressive number eight showing on this list.

7

Johnny Keefer

Another relative unknown and is something of a surprise on this list given he has failed to make the cut in each of the last three tournaments he has played. The American is at 74th in the Official World Golf Rankings, but was in the top 50 for last year and so has an invitation to the Masters at Augusta thanks to their qualifying criteria. Keefer ranks highly for ball striking and is number one when it comes to greens in regulation this season.

6

Jake Knapp

Knapp did not make the cut at the Players, but did have three consecutive top ten finishes at the tournaments prior to that and appeared to be in red-hot form. The American is top when it comes to scoring average and is second when it comes to strokes gained, too. He also makes it into the top ten for putting average, so is a name to be feared heading into the Masters.

5

Rory McIlroy

The current No.2 player in the world is only at number five when it comes to these stats for the 2026 season to date, but he has been carrying an injury. McIlroy withdrew from the Arnold Palmer with said injury before returning to finish 43rd at the Players. He may not be heading into his Masters defence in the best shape, but as we know with the Northern Irishman he can turn on the style at will. Unsurprisingly, he comes out on top in strokes gained tee-to-green and also impresses in strokes gained overall, ball striking and scoring average.

4

Scottie Scheffler

Next is the current world No.1, Scheffler, who is just above the No.2 in fourth on this list. He may not always start a season strongly, but always comes good the longer it goes on, and you cannot write him off being fourth on this list so early in the year. Scheffler ranks highly for scoring average and putting average, with strong numbers for strokes gained and strokes gained tee-to-green as well.

3

Jacob Bridgeman

What a start to the season this guy is having. The relatively unknown American has finished in the top 20 of every tournament he has played on the PGA Tour so far this season, winning the Genesis Invitational and finishing tied for fifth at the Players. Bridgeman is top of the pile for strokes gained and putting average and only behind Knapp for scoring average too. He is one to watch for sure.

2

Matt Fitzpatrick

It is no surprise to see the Sheffield ace near the top of this list and he is ranked No.2 for these stats so far this season. He is coming off the back of winning the Valspar Championship and finishing as runner-up to Cameron Young in the Players Championship. It could so easily have been back-to-back successes for Fitzpatrick. Scoring average, strokes gained, strokes gained tee-to-green, ball striking and greens in regulation – Fitzpatrick is in the top ten for all of them, with his only miss being in the putting averages.

1

Collin Morikawa

Morikawa is perhaps a surprise name at number one in this list, given that he withdrew from the Players. However, up until that point, he had shown strong form, winning the AT&T Pebble Beach tournament, before finishing in the top ten at the Genesis and the Arnold Palmer.

He leads the way for ball striking and is second when it comes to greens in regulation. Also gets in the top ten for scoring average, strokes gained and strokes gained tee-to-green. Like Fitzpatrick he only misses out on the top ten in the putting average metric. Will he be fit to play in the Masters, though, having suffered a back injury just one hole into the Players Championship?