What is the most amount of money earned in one season on the PGA Tour?
Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris had to settle for a share of second at the US Open but both broke single-season PGA earnings records in doing so.
Matt Fitzpatrick pocketed $3.15 million for winning the 2022 US Open last weekend but it was Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris who subsequently made most of the headlines. The American duo finished in a tie for second place at Brookline, both picking up a check for $1,557,687 to add to their considerable earnings already this season. In the case of Scheffler, the windfall represented a new PGA earnings record for a single season, and 2021-22 is yet relatively young. The 24-year-old has winnings of $12,869,894 for the year, beating the previous record for a PGA season of $12,030,465 set by Jordan Spieth in 2014-15.
Scheffler has picked up four titles this season, at the WM Phoenix Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Match Play – a win that installed the American as the world number one - and the Masters, and has finished runner-up three times now including his tie for second at Brookline.
Zalatoris has set a different kind of record, one that while not ideal for a professional athlete has certainly not done his bank balance any harm: the 25-year-old has pocketed $6,441,437 this season without winning a title, a PGA single-season record. Zalatoris has placed in the top six at seven different events, including his tie for second with Scheffler at the Masters and his loss to Justin Thomas in a playoff at the PGA Championship. His performance at the Masters was the third time he has finished second at a major in the space of a year and Zalatoris has seen his ranking jump to 12th as a result.
Tiger Woods the all-time leader
Despite both breaking PGA season earnings records, neither Scheffler nor Zalatoris have made much of a dent in the all-time list, which is unsurprisingly led by 15-times major winner Tiger Woods, who topped the annual PGA money list a record 10 times and has so far earned $120,895,206 on the Tour. However, Woods’ best season in terms of his bank balance was in 2007, when he took home $10,867,052 in prize money on the back of seven tournament wins. The first time the American great topped the list was in 1997, when he won $2,066,833 with four wins.
Last season, Jon Rahm topped the money list with earnings of $7,705,933, a little more than Thomas took home the previous year, placing Scheffler’s feat into context and also highlighting the increased purses on offer at several tournaments.
Overall, Scheffler jumped from 97th on the all-time list to 86th last week with career earnings of $20,400,827, while Zalatoris moved from 250th to 213th.
US Open winner Fitzpatrick moved from 208th to 153rd.