Even if winning tournaments evades golfers, they can still earn a pretty penny near the upper echelons of the leaderboard. That has certainly been the case for one man in particular this year, so we explore the highest paid golfers in 2024.
LIV Golf has taken prize money to astronomical heights, along with lucrative sign-on bonuses, brand deals and a considerable slice of broadcasting revenue.
This in turn has forced the PGA Tour’s hand to up their own financial incentives, meaning golfers are now some of the highest paid athletes on the planet – even if they rarely find themselves winning tournaments.
Highest Paid Golfers In 2024
Below SportsCasting take a look at who has earned the most across the sport over the 12 month period of 2024.
Scottie Scheffler won the season-long FedEx Cup as well as his second Green Jacket at The Masters, with Xander Schauffele winning the The Open Championship & The PGA Championship. The increasingly popular Bryson DeChambeau also won his second major with his US Open triumph as well.
The four majors were split between three American golfers. However, where do they feature on the list of the world’s highest paid golfers in 2024?
It may come as a surprise that despite winning two majors, Xander Schauffele does NOT feature on this Top 10 list of the world’s highest paid golfers in 2024.
10. Dustin Johnson – $37 million
“Play less golf, play for more money.”
Those were the words of Dustin Johnson after joining breakaway tour LIV Golf two years, and he has already began raking in the cash.
Not that he needed it – the two-time major winner racked up an impressive $75m during his time with PGA, but it is believed he is guaranteed $125m just for featuring for LIV on their tour.
Add to that $56m in reported prize money thus far, and it is hard to question Johnson’s decision to defect in 2022.
This year the American has clocked in with $22m in on-course earnings and a further $5m off it, joining high-profile athletes such as Serena Williams and Derek Jeter in investing in tequila brand Cincoro.
9. Phil Mickelson – $38 million
Even into his early fifties Phil Mickelson continues to be one of golf’s highest earners, and his switch to LIV was a huge coup for the breakaway tour at the time.
This came at a price for the PIF (Public Investment Fund) backed tour, who reportedly entered into a contract with Mickelson worth £155m in 2022.
This year alone the six-time major champion has earned $36m on the course, which is where the majority of his earnings come from in his latter years after slowing down on his off-course commitments, which account for an extra $2m.
Along with Tiger Woods, he is just one of two golfers to surpass the $1 billion mark in earnings across a long and fruitful career.
8. Viktor Hovland – $40 million
Despite a major win proving agonisingly out of reach so far, 26-year-old Viktor Hovland has plenty to shout about as the youngest player on this list.
A five-time winner on the PGA Tour, the Norwegian’s career highlight came last year after he clinched the FedEx Cup – a prize that promises $18m in prize money.
A loveable, smiley character off the course, Hovland has also began building a marketable profile with $7m in off-course earnings to add to his $33m on it.
7. Brooks Koepka – $43 million
Brooks Koepka has made LIV Golf his home, winning his fourth title in Singapore this year to become the tour’s outright leader in tournament wins.
Winning this frequently on a tour that promises other-worldly sums in prize money has allowed Koepka to bolster his wealth significantly, although the four-time major winner has long been one of the highest earners in golf.
His victory at the PGA Championship in 2023 means he remains the only player to win a major while actively playing for LIV, which also banked him a cool $18.5m in prize money.
That accounts for a considerable slide of his $35m on-course earnings, while partnerships with Nike and NetJets saw him pocked $8m away from the sport.
6. Bryson DeChambeau – $44 million
What makes Bryson DeChambeau‘s appearance on this list so impressive is almost the entirety of his earnings have come on the course, with just $1m of his $44m coming from sponsorships.
Nevertheless, this lighter workload off the course has allowed his to pursue other personal endeavours, such as growing his YouTube channel to 830,000 subscribers.
Whether this approach has had a positive effect on his game is a connection only he can make, but the 30-year-old added a second US Open title this year, not long after winning his second LIV event in September of last year.
5. Cameron Smith – $47 million
According to Forbes, Cameron Smith has already racked up $40m in prize money since joining LIV in 2022, which equates to roughly $5m more than he earned across the entirety of his 10-year total with the PGA Tour.
That is on top of a guaranteed $100m just for competing, so Smith finds himself in an exceptionally healthy financial position at this moment in time.
The 2022 British Open champion made $43m on the course and $5m off it last year, securing his spot in the top five highest earners as of 2024.
4. Scottie Scheffler – $61 million
World number one Scottie Scheffler added a second major to his trophy haul earlier this year at Augusta, collecting a second green jacket in the process.
He also became the first player ever to win the Players Championship back-to-back in March, which also happens to be the most lucrative prize in golf with a prize of $25m for the victor.
Around $20m of his $61m in earnings have come courtesy of an extensive endorsement portfolio, which now features Nike, Community Bank and Rolex amongst others.
3. Tiger Woods – $67 million
He may not be at the peak of his powers any more, but Tiger Woods continues to collect $55m in off-course endorsements, making him one of only two players on this list with lower on-course earnings.
90% of the 15-time major winner’s overall wealth is said to be made up of numerous sponsorship deals, the most notable of which seeing him partner with Rolex, EA Sports and Nike, although the latter’s $500m, 27-year deal came to an end this year.
Although Woods is no longer the major-winning machine he once was, he still collected $12m in on-course earnings across the season. Not to mention the fact that Woods still holds the record for the most dominant PGA Tour seasons in history.
Add to that the fact that the great Tiger also sits top of the tree of the most popular golfers in the world right now. Not bad for a man who is now 49-years-old.
2. Rory McIlroy – $83 million
Who is the other player whose off-court earnings outweighs their performances on the Tour you ask?
Rory McIlroy‘s seemingly desperate pursuit of another major – which has evaded him since winning a fourth a decade ago – could have threatened to de-rail his career, but he continues to perform at an elite level elsewhere.
Victory at Wells Fargo in May along with Zurich Classic and Scottish Open titles in the same season have taken his prize money earnings up to $38m, although his $45m worth of endorsements with the likes of TaylorMade and Omega contribute a far larger share to his wealth for 2024.
1. Jon Rahm – $218 million
Despite losing a significant chunk of his sponsorships after defecting to LIV in December of last year, Jon Rahm‘s unrelenting form on the course has seen him ranked the second-highest earning athlete of 2024 by Forbes.
$198m in prize money comes courtesy of big wins at the Masters and Genesis Invitational, while the Spaniard has $20m worth of partnerships with Santander, Mercedes-Benz and Callaway. The vast majority of this money comes from his insane deal with LIV Golf, worth around $500 million in total.
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