Money continues to rise in professional golf, especially in the men's game after the introduction of the Saudi Arabian PIF-backed LIV Golf in 2022.
It saw multiple star names leave the PGA Tour for big money contracts and forced the tour to find cash from its coffers to bump up purses and create the new Player Impact Program, which rewards players for their stardom via a number of categories, including their social media impressions and TV time.
It also saw the introduction of the Signature Events, which have $20m purses and winner's checks ranging from $3.6m to $4m. The Players Championship prize money was also bumped up to $25m, with the champion earning $4.5m.
Before LIV Golf, the most money won in a single season on the PGA Tour previously belonged to Jordan Spieth, who bagged over $12m in the 2014-15 season after winning both The Masters and US Open.
That usurped Vijay Singh's $10.9m earned in 2004 when he won nine titles including the PGA Championship.
Yet since the emergence of LIV Golf, the money has risen to heights that many might not have been able to predict, with Scottie Scheffler breaking the record in both 2023 and 2024.
An example of how PGA Tour prize money has rocketed is that Spieth's record of $12m stood for eight years and is now $17m short of Scottie Scheffler's 2024 earnings.
Scheffler's $29m in 2024 is the new record after seven wins, with Xander Schauffele's total of $18.6m ranking third all-time.
In 2023, Scheffler won over $21m, with 2nd-place Jon Rahm ($16.5m) and 3rd-place Viktor Hovland ($14.1m) also breaking the previous record - which Scheffler set in 2022 with $14m.
That doesn't tell the full story, though, as Viktor Hovland won the $18m FedEx Cup bonus as well as $6m in the PIP and $1.4m in the Comcast Business Top 10 to earn somewhere around $39.5m for 2023 - which was surely a PGA Tour record for a single season.
Yet that number has been left in the dust in 2024, with Scheffler earning $29m from his tournaments, $25m for winning the FedEx Cup and $8m for topping the Comcast Business Top 10. That puts him at $62m and it could well rise to $72m if/when he tops the Player Impact Program.
He is likely favorite for the #1 spot after seven wins and a trip to jail, and will surely win the PGA Tour Player of the Year award for the third consecutive year.
*Includes official tournament money only, not bonuses won like FedEx Cup and others
