Scottie Scheffler has dominated the men's professional game in the past four years. He ascended to World No.1 in February 2022 and has been accumulating vast sums of prize money ever since, with Scheffler's caddie also earning a healthy fortune along the way.
With 19 wins, including four Major Championships, there have been plenty of comparisons drawn between the red hot form of Scheffler and the famous period of utter dominance from Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods is currently the record earner on the PGA Tour, banking more than $120 million in prize money in his career so far, but Scottie Scheffler is now lurking and ready to overtake one of the best golfers of all time.
The question is... when will Scheffler accumulate enough funds to overthrow Woods in top spot?
When Will Scheffler Pass Tiger Woods' PGA Tour Earnings?
With the rate that Scheffler keeps winning appearing to gather speed rather than be slowing down, it's hard to predict exactly when he will overtake Woods at the top of the career earnings list on the PGA Tour.
It's pretty clear that it will happen relatively soon, barring a cataclysmic drop off in form or a significant injury, and if I was to hazard a guess I would say by the Masters in 2027 (at the latest).
There is a way that we can use some of his historic earnings to make a loose prediction, so stick with me while I talk you through my theory.
Scheffler has earned just over $99 million dollars since turning professional in 2018. He didn't earn over $1 million in a season until the 2019-2020 season, so we will take an average based on the past six seasons including that one.
Doing some very basic maths tells me that Scheffler has averaged around $16.5 million a season for the last six seasons, so based on that calculation it would take him just two more to eclipse the figure currently held by Woods.
That theory is based on the notion that Woods doesn't add significant sums of prize money to his own total, which looks unlikely following Woods' recent surgery and his history over the past few seasons.
There is another way to look at this, however.
Scheffler has earned at least $20 million in each of the last three seasons, with the biggest income seen in the 2024 season ($29 million), so based on that trajectory he will surpass Woods by the end of the 2026 season.
Either way, the rate at which Scheffler has pulled alongside one of the greatest players of the modern era in terms of career prize money is simply ludicrous and a damning inditement on the state of the men's professional game.
Woods, who earned an average of $4.5 million per season using the same parameters as above, has a massive 82 PGA Tour wins.
Those victories were recorded over almost 30 years as a professional, but Tiger is about to be passed by a player with 19 wins in just seven years as a pro.
I'll let you stew on that concerning stat for a moment, then I want to hear your thoughts.
Drop me a comment below and tell me your opinion on the financial state of the game, the sums of money earned by players and anything else that peaked your interest in this article.
