GOLF
Who are the PGA career money leaders? Record earnings for golf’s top players
Scottie Scheffler’s sensational form in 2024 has seen him rise towards the top of the all-time money list, despite his relative youth.
It goes without saying that there’s never been a more lucrative time to be a professional golfer, as proved by Scottie Scheffler’s sensational rise up the PGA Tour’s all-time money list.
Scheffler’s 2024 season in numbers: wins, top 20, earnings...
The current world number one’s quite incredible exploits in 2024 are worth repeating. Scheffler has won six times in 15 starts and finished in the top 20 on all but one occasion (tied for 41st at the 2024 US Open).
He’s won four of the eight Signature Events, flagship event The Player’s Championship and The Masters, which has contributed to him picking up $27,696,858 already this year, more than double what Xander Schauffele ($12,636,360), second of the 2024 money list, has earned.
For additional context, Scheffler has already broken his own record of $21,014,342, set in 2023, for the most money made in a single PGA Tour season. And there are still more than two months of golf to be played, including the FedExCup playoffs.
The six highest-earning seasons of all time have all come from 2022 onwards, with the creation of competitor LIV Golf driving up prize money on the PGA Tour. And Scheffler has been the main beneficiary.
Top 20 highest all-time earners on the PGA Tour
The 28-year-old is already seventh on the all-time money list, despite having only turned professional in 2018. Tiger Woods, who has won a joint high 81 tour titles, unsurprisingly leads the way, although Scheffler will pass him in a couple of years if he keeps anything like his recent form up.
| Rank | Player | Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods | $120,999,166 |
| 2 | Phil Mickelson | $96,644,310 |
| 3 | Rory McIlroy | $90,130,223 |
| 4 | Dustin Johnson | $75,466,806 |
| 5 | Jim Furyk | $71,507,269 |
| 6 | Vijay Singh | $71,281,216 |
| 7 | Scottie Scheffler | $70,262,087 |
| 8 | Adam Scott | $64,879,798 |
| 9 | Justin Rose | $63,259,042 |
| 10 | Jordan Spieth | $62,512,553 |
| 11 | Jason Day | $60,503,929 |
| 12 | Matt Kuchar | $59,234,367 |
| 13 | Justin Thomas | $58,612,464 |
| 14 | Sergio García | $54,985,969 |
| 15 | Hideki Matsuyama | $51,761,527 |
| 16 | Jon Rahm | $51,603,815 |
| 17 | Xander Schauffele | $51,546,683 |
| 18 | Rickie Fowler | $50,025,665 |
| 19 | Ernie Els | $49,385,600 |
| 20 | Zach Johnson | $48,904,251 |
Of the top 20, four players (Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio García and Jon Rahm) have made the switch to LIV and are no longer adding to their earnings on a regular basis, while three veterans (Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els) only sporadically appear on the main tour.
To give you even more of an idea about how prize money has increased over the years, Jack Nicklaus, who holds the record for winning 18 major championships, made “only” $5,734,031 on the PGA Tour after turning professional in 1961. That’s a little over $100,000 more than Robert MacIntyre, who only got his card at the start of the 2024 season.