Top 50 World ranking projection for the end of 2024; Min Woo Lee and PGA Tour rival at risk

As the year nears its end, golfers have been doing their best to maintain their rankings within the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings, in order to secure their spots for the 2025 Masters. The top 50 in the OWGR as of December 31, 2024, will secure their spots for the first Major of next year.

"OWGR guru" Nosferatu, whose first name is Vince, according to NBC, shared the projected world ranking for the end of the year on X (formerly Twitter) this week. The projected ranking shows Min Woo Lee and Lucas Glover at the bottom of the top 50 and at risk of slipping down the rankings.

Glover is at the bottom, ranked 50th, and is at a possible risk of missing the top 50. He is currently ranked 51st in the OWGR, but as per the projected ranking, he could get up to 50th place. However, according to the post, as he is not playing this week and is not expected to compete in any events before the year ends, he is at risk of falling down the rankings.

Several players such as Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Mackenzie Hughes, Nicolai Højgaard, Thomas Detry, Will Zalatoris, and Thorbjørn Olesen, will be playing at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, which will take place from December 5 to 8. A good finish at the tournament could help them to improve their rankings, which might jeopardize Lee and Glover's position, according to Nosferatu's post.

Sharing the post on X, Nosferatu wrote:

"This is the early #OWGR Top 50 projection for the end of 2024. It'll be squeaky bum time for Min Woo Lee and especially Lucas Glover. And then you have the likes of Hughes, Nicolai and Olesen who still have a chance to reach Top 50 and qualify for @TheMasters."

Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler is currently leading the OWGR rankings and will be playing this week at the Hero World Challenge. Xander Schauffele is second, followed by Rory McIlroy.

A look at the projected World rankings

Nosferatu has shared the projected world rankings for players ranked below 27th place, as changes in their rankings are possible.

Here is the projected OWGR ranking for the end of 2024:

27. Tom Hoge
28. Brian Harman
29. Maverick McNealy
30. Mathieu Pavon
31. Akshay Bhatia
32. Nick Dunlap
33. J.T. Poston
34. Max Greyserman
35. Austin Eckroat
36. Rasmus Højgaard
37. Jason Day
38. Sepp Straka
39. Davis Thompson
40. Matt Fitzpatrick
41. Cameron Young
42. Max Homa
43. Denny McCarthy
44. Corey Conners
45. Matt McCarthy
46. Thriston Lawrence
47. Justin Rose
48. Taylor Pendrith
49. Min Woo Lee
50. Lucas Glover

Notably, most of the players in this list, except Min Woo Lee and Lucas Glover, have qualified for the 2025 Masters. Meanwhile, Tom Kim, Nick Dunlap, Max Greyserman, Rasmus Højgaard, Jason Day, Denny McCarthy, and Corey Conners are guaranteed to stay in the top 50.

On the other hand, there are some players whose year-end ranking is projected to be outside the top 50 but have already qualified for the Masters. These include Cameron Davis (51), Chris Kirk (52), Stephan Jaeger (53), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (56), Thomas Detry (62), Kevin Yu (63), Will Zalatoris (65), Tom Hoge (66), Nicolás Echavarría (67), and Jordan Spieth (68).