Highest earning golf players of all time

The Players Championship alone paid $4.5 million to this year’s winner, Scottie Scheffler. The top prize at that event was just $1.89m as recently as 2017, which shows why ultra-experienced icons like Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els also miss out.

Here is the round-up of the highest-paid golf players of all time from the PGA Tour, not including earnings from the LIV Golf series.

10. Matt Kuchar – $57,491,861

You hear the shouts from the crowd wherever he goes. They sound like boos, but greetings of “Kuch!” show how warmly the 44-year-old has endeared himself to golf fans around the world.

He’s bagged nine wins on the PGA Tour, over a 23-year-and-counting career, with consistent close calls parachuting the former world number four into this top ten. His best year in the game was 2010, where Kuch landed a host of top ten finishes, won The Barclays and finished as the PGA Tour money list leader. He couldn’t be caught that year, but it is only a matter of time until he’s caught on this list.

9. Jordan Spieth – $58,318,957

The real question here is just how high Spieth’s talent can take him up this ranking. The 29-year-old has spent a decade as a professional, so could yet be less than halfway into his PGA Tour career. His exceptional ability, born with and crafted through work, has earned him 13 tour wins, plus plenty more strong finishes. They have built up this ridiculous ten-year earnings – which doesn’t even include any of the money he’ll be earning from sponsorships, like his lucrative deal with Under Armour.

Spieth is just one PGA Championship away from the career grand slam, a tournament he finished second at in his banner 2015 season. That season saw him finish as the FedEx Cup winner, the PGA Player of the Year and the PGA Tour money list leader, after bagging more than $12m on course. He has the talent and work ethic to eclipse that season total and hit heady heights on this list.

8. Justin Rose – $60,432,759

The Englishman is the second highest European on this list – no guesses at who’s above him – with a fortune built up over 400 Tour events in a near 20-year PGA career.

The 42-year-old has come a long way since his fourth-place finish at the 1998 Open Championship, as an amateur no less, and has the career earnings to reflect his sustained success. The 2013 US Open was just one of Rose’s 11 wins on the Tour, while 29 further trips to the podium have helped the golfer born in Johannesburg comfortably into this top 10. Holding off Jordan Spieth’s financial charge might not be possible, but there’s no doubt that Rose’s career has been a special and lucrative one.

7. Adam Scott – $61,736,110

Nope, tell your mates we’re not on about the Severance and Parks and Recreation star, but a golfing star of the highest order. The Australian has been a constant toward the top end of PGA leaderboards for two decades and counting, taking the top spot at 14 events, with the same amount of runner-up finishes.

The Uniqlo-clad sportsman is still adding to his legacy and earnings, bagging a tied fifth spot in the Wells Fargo Championship this May. His performance at Quail Hollow proved to all that the 2013 Masters winner isn’t resting on any laurels despite being in the back nine of his career.

6. Vijay Singh – $71,236,216

The Big Fijian is a great example of just how much the money has grown in professional golf. Singh won an incredible 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three majors, but his highest single take-home was just $1.35m, for winning the 2008 WGC Bridgestone Invitational. If he was playing at his peak today, he’d be eyeing up the summit of this countdown.

The former top golfer in the world made almost as much history as he did cash on the tour. Singh was the first person of South Asian descent to win a major, while he bagged the PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2004 and was the leading PGA Tour money winner three times in the space of six years. It has truly been a career worthy of his Hall of Fame entry.

5. Jim Furyk – $71,507,269

The 52-year-old has been a professional for more than 30 years. It took him almost 20 to win his FedEx Cup, but still the former world number two achieved so much in his storied career. Most famously, Furyk carded the first round of 58 in PGA Tour history; a score surpassed on other tours, but one that may never be topped on the PGA.

Furyk racked up his on-course riches through this combination of success and longevity. The Florida resident has been a part of an insane amount of Tour events (636 to date), coming out on top at his fair share (17). His headline year was back in 2006, where he earned $7,213,316 on course. It was not enough to hold off the capital rise of one of today’s best and brightest.

4. Rory McIlroy – $71,559,057

Rory has done so much in the game and has so much ahead of him. The 34-year-old has four majors to his name and will keep chasing down the only one missing from his career grand slam. We might not always see the best of the Northern Irish megastar, but his class, hard work and ability is evident every time he takes to the course.

McIlroy has 23 career wins to his name, plus nine runners-up berths. He’ll be adding to those in the rest of 2023 and beyond, inching him closer to the top three of this countdown. We’ve seen him play some outstanding golf in the past year, so don’t be surprised to see the two-time PGA Tour leading money winner back with trophy in hand – and winnings in account – sometime soon.

3. Dustin Johnson – $74,947,819

Before DJ swapped over to LIV Golf last year, he made money hand over fist on the PGA Tour, dominating between 2016 and 2018. In this first of those seasons, the South Carolina native won the PGA money list, earning a whopping $9,365,185 on course.

The 38-year-old has bundled up his pile through 24 victories on the PGA Tour. He bagged a shred over $2m alone by winning his second of his two majors, the 2020 Masters. His reliable, strong showings led him to serious riches and to spend 64 weeks as the top golfer on the planet.

2. Phil Mickelson – $96,539,060

The PGA Tour’s oldest major champion banked an incredible amount of money before he hopped over to LIV Golf for a reported $200m. Mickelson is now thought to have earned more than $1 billion pre-tax earnings in his career – through both on and off-course activity – with the exceptional scope of his talent pocketing the lethal leftie almost nine figures alone.

Mickelson was never a PGA Tour season money winner, but 45 event victories and numerous top finishes have led him to a total only one man can top. The 52-year-old added healthy cheques to his account after winning six majors – three Masters, two PGA Championships and a single Open Championship – and would have earned significantly at the only major he never won. Mickelson finished second or tied second six times at the US Open, bagging him sizeable pay cheques in defeat.

1. Tiger Woods – $120,954,766

Another golf list topped by Tiger Woods. It might be quicker to write about the records he doesn’t hold.

Tiger’s bank balance is the biggest because his career had everything. A record 82 PGA Tour wins point to an immense will to win, potentially never matched in the sport. That mentality combined with his out-of-this-world talent and desire to play the game for as long as possible has left Woods with an astronomical haul of career earnings.

The 47-year-old’s biggest ever win was a whisker over $2m – less than half of what Scottie Scheffler banked at the PGA Championships this year – but a total of five Masters, four PGA Championships, three US Opens and three The Opens were always going to contribute healthily to his standing on this list. He was the PGA Tour money winner a record 10 times; just another way that Tiger is golf’s GOAT. Tiger Woods earned himself an on-course fortune, which he only expanded off it. His biggest money season – his seven PGA wins in 2007 – bagged him almost $11m, a figure that world number one Jon Rahm has surpassed this season.

With the money in the game growing season on season, this list is sure to change at speed. Even still, Tiger will take some catching.