Jon Rahm bumps Cam Smith from No. 3 in world golf ranking

Smith was, of course, bound to fall down the ranks at some point since he no longer qualifies for OWGR points. The Australian hasn't been able to gain any ground following the FedEx Cup playoffs because he defected to the LIV Golf circuit, which has yet to meet the requirements to qualify for the OWGR system. 

Despite Rahm's criticism of the OWGR in recent months, there is no doubt he is happy to gain some ground. Rahm has even gone so far as to say he's been the world's top golfer since the end of last season.

Yes, even better than Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.

"I feel like since August I've been the best player in the world, I feel like, and I think a lot of us should feel like a lot of times we're the best," Rahm said earlier this month, via Golf Digest. "Earlier in the year clearly Scottie was that player, then Rory was that player, and I feel like right now it's been me. Anybody any given year can get a hot three, four months and get to that spot. It's the level of golf we're at nowadays. It is what it is. It's very difficult to stay up there and it requires a lot of golf."

McIlroy and Scheffler still sit at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the world ranking, and McIlroy hasn't yet competed since the calendar changed to 2023. Scheffler tied for 11th at The AmEx last weekend and is set to compete against Rahm at the Farmers Insurance Open this weekend in Southern California.