Debates on the relative merits of the PGA Tour vs LIV Golf in areas including format and entertainment are hardly likely to be settled any time soon, but one area backed up by cold, hard numbers is the prize money handed out on each of the two circuits.
From the word go, LIV Golf has made no excuses about the incredible purses it offers, with each of its regular tournaments since 2022 handing out $25m before $50m is fought over in the season-closing Team Championship.
The PGA Tour, aware of the sizeable threat that financial muscle posed to its dominance, soon responded with eye-catching payouts of its own, including $20m in most of its signature events and $25m for its flagship tournament The Players Championship.
However, those tournament-by-tournament payouts are far from the end of the windfalls awaiting the most successful players on each circuit.
The regular PGA Tour season culminates in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The three-event contest begins with the top 70 in the season-long FedEx Cup standings competing in the FedEx St. Jude Championship before, ultimately, just 30 of those make it to the Tour Championship finale at East Lake.
Meanwhile, LIV Golf has a season-long competition of its own, the Individual Championship, where players are awarded points based on their finishes in each event to determine their position.
Considering the huge publicity over the financial clout offered by the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, it may be a surprise to learn that the money offered in the FedEx Cup is one area where the PGA Tour outstrips its rival, helped by a $3bn investment by the Strategic Sports Group.
In 2024, the FedEx Cup prize pool has been raised to an enormous $100m (up $65m since 2018), and the majority of it will be shared between the top 10 finishers at the Tour Championship.
That inflated FedEx Cup prize money payout means this year’s winner will receive an incredible $25m bonus.
That's $7m more than last year’s winner Viktor Hovland claimed, while the runner-up will bank a bonus of $12.5m - $2.5m more than the winner earned just six years ago as the trend of its prize money increasing through the years continues. There are also seven-figure sums on offer to the eight players finishing beneath them, with even the player finishing 10th receiving $1.75m.
As for LIV Golf's individual bonus payouts, at the end of the final regular event of the season, LIV Golf Chicago, the Individual Championship standings will be confirmed as Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann battle to succeed 2023 champion Talor Gooch.
Like 2023, there will be an extra payment of $18m heading to the winner, $8m to the runner-up and $4m to the player finishing third.
