Back in April at the Masters, Jon Rahm sat at his pre-tournament press conference and was asked where he thought he ranked in the world regardless of his standing in the Official World Golf Rankings.
“Where am I in the rankings?” Rahm said with a laugh. “I’m out of the top 100 yet?”
As a member of LIV Golf, Rahm has limited chances to earn OWGR points as LIV isn’t currently accredited. While LIV is working toward OWGR accreditation, the Saudi-backed league’s players have plummeted in the world rankings over the past few years. Rahm, who was once the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, has fallen to 87. Dustin Johnson is 636. Brooks Koepka, who recently left LIV Golf, is ranked 244. Only Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau are ranked inside the top 30.
With the OWGR unable to properly rate LIV’s players, Rahm sees a number of his league mates being underrated by the rankings and golf world at large.
Rahm went on the latest episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast and offered his list of the most underrated players on the breakaway league.
Rahm’s list starts with a player who has notched a win in each of the last two seasons on LIV: Dean Burmester.
“I think Dean Burmester gets a little bit underappreciated,” Rahm told co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “He’s such a good player, especially when things get tricky. He hits the ball low. He’s really 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 bit of a surprise as he named Joaquin Niemann, who won five times on LIV in 2025. To Rahm, Niemann’s inability to find success at the majors has led many to not fully appreciate the Chilean’s talent.
“I still think because I’ve seen him play and he hasn’t played his best in majors, I still think Joaquin [Niemann] is underrated,” Rahm said. “He hasn’t played his best [in majors], but what I’ve seen the last two years out of him, he’s incredible. He’s won seven times in 26 starts. It’s decent.”
Niemann carded his first top-15 finish at a major at the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club. But he missed the cut at the U.S. Open and Open Championship, and has yet to be a factor on the weekend at a major championship.
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 somebody we don’t know, I’m going to put David Puig in there,” Rahm said. “I think he’s one of those where if World Rankings counted, he’s been able to put himself closer inside the top 100 by playing around the planet in events that maybe don’t count as much as the ones on LIV could. I think he is somebody that is a lot better than obviously rankings were reflecting and people don’t know yet.”
Puig, 24, has not yet won on LIV, but he did win the 2025 BMW Australian Championship in November to secure his first victory on the DP World Tour.
You can listen to Rahm’s entire episode here or watch the YouTube video below.
