Rory McIlroy came up short in his efforts to secure a 24th PGA Tour win at the Travelers Championship and eventually had to settle for a tie for seventh.
However, that performance at TPC River Highlands was enough to see the 34-year-old reach a new career milestone. McIlroy earned $650,000 in Connecticut, which saw him pass $75m in career earnings on the PGA Tour to stand at $75,819,307.
That has moved McIlroy past Dustin Johnson to third on the all-time list, albeit still over $20m behind Phil Mickelson, who stands at $96,572,310. Unsurprisingly, far beyond either McIlroy or Mickelson is 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods, who won’t be caught any time soon despite the certainty of a limited PGA Tour schedule in the future. Woods, who has 82 wins on the Tour, stands at $120, 895,206.
While McIlroy’s earnings are a reflection of his consistency since joining the PGA Tour in 2010, he is far from the highest earner in 2023 so far.
After months of fine form, Jon Rahm broke the money record for a PGA Tour season after his runner-up finish in April’s Mexico Open. That moved his earnings to $14,462,840, and he is currently on $15,210, 983, with only the most consistent player in the game at present, World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, ahead of him, on $18,548, 392. In contrast, McIlroy is currently fifth on the list on $9,644,758.
Nevertheless, given the longevity of his career so far, it is not surprising that McIlroy remains on significantly more career earnings than the two, with Rahm in 11th on the career money list at $50,335, 026 and Scheffler in 23rd on $40,099,279.
There are also signs that McIlroy’s earnings may accelerate in the weeks to come. His performance at the Travelers Championship was his fifth top 10 finish in a row and, while most of the designated events, which have elevated purses, have now been played, there are still big-money tournaments in the pipeline, including July’s Open Championship and the season-ending FedEx Playoffs.
With promising form and several opportunities to earn big money coming up, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find McIlroy finishing the season significantly closer to LIV Golf player Mickelson than he currently stands.
