In this episode of Fairway Foundations, I dive into the world of professional golf earnings, focusing on the top earners of 2025 across the PGA Tour & LIV Golf League. Discover how players like Joaquin Niemann and Jon Rahm are making waves in the LIV Golf League, and compare their earnings to PGA Tour stars like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy & Tommy Fleetwood. We also explore the impact of larger purses on the game and what it means for the future of golf. Additionally, we take a closer look at how the 2025 PGA Tour earnings stack up against previous years, examining trends from 2005, 2015, and 2020 to understand the evolving financial landscape of professional golf earnings. Tune in for our discussion!
00:00 Introduction & Welcome To Episode #1
1:22 Topics Covered In This Video
2:48 PGA Tour Earnings Overview for 2025 – History Up To Tour Championship
5:08 Why Should We Care About Golf Tournament Purse Amounts?
8:28 Top Earners On The PGA Tour for 2025
17:11 Key Takeaways From 2025 PGA Tour Earnings List
19:36 LIV Golf’s 2025 Top Earners
28:17 Key Takeaways From LIV Golf’s 2025 Earnings List
30:40 PGA Tour’s 2025 Earnings v/s Previous Years’
30:56 2025 v/s 2020 Earnings – Dustin Johnson
32:57 2025 v/s 2015 Earnings – Jordan Spieth
34:03 2025 v/s 2005 Earnings – Tiger Woods
35:50 Main Takeaways From Previous Years’ Comparison
39:35 Circle Back To Money’s Prevalence in Golf
41:13 Conclusion & Future Episode Plug
Resource Links:
• Joaquin Nieman Overtakes Scotty Scheffler in Earnings (https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/joaquin-niemann-overtakes-scheffler-mcilroy-golf-top-earner)
• Forbes’ Highest Paid Golfers in 2025 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2025/06/11/the-worlds-highest-paid-golfers-2025/)
• Golf Monthly – May 1st 2024 – May 1st 2025 Income (https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/rahm-mcilroy-woods-highest-paid-athletes?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• PGA Tour Official Course Earnings (https://www.pgatour.com/stats/detail/109)
• Essential Golf – Off-Course Earnings Details (https://essential.golf/golf-endorsement-whos-winning-the-off-course-game/)
• Tommy Fleetwood’s Tour Championship Payout (https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/tour-championship-purse-prize-money-payout-fedex-cup-playoffs-2025-tommy-fleetwood/)
• LIV Golf League’s 2025 Official Money List (https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/liv-golf-money-list-2025)
• Inflation Calculator (https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm)
• 2005 PGA Tour Schedule & Purses (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_PGA_Tour)
• 2005 PGA Tour Schedule & Winner’s Payout (https://pgatourmedia.pgatourhq.com/static-assets/page/header/files/2005_pgatour.pdf)
• PGA Tour Scoring Average Calculation (https://www.pgatour.com/stats/detail/108)
• Tommy Fleetwood Off Course Earnings (https://www.essentiallysports.com/golf-news-tommy-fleetwood-net-worth-2025-pga-tour-pros-career-earnings-endorsements-more)
• Russell Henley Off-Course Earnings (https://www.essentiallysports.com/golf-news-russell-henley-s-net-worth-2025-endorsements-pga-tour-earnings-more-explored)
• J.J. Spaun Off-Course Earnings (https://www.essentiallysports.com/golf-news-jj-spaun-s-2025-net-worth-pga-tour-career-earnings-endorsements-more-explored)
• Justin Thomas Off-Course Earnings (https://www.forbes.com/profile/justin-thomas/)
• Taylor Gooch Foundation Partners (https://talorgoochfoundation.org/partners)
• Marc Lieshman Sponsors (https://bookingagentinfo.com/celebrity/marc-leishman/endorsements/#:~:text=Marc%20Leishman%20Endorsements%20Summary,these%20brands%2C%20specifically%20Callaway%20Golf.)
Welcome back to episode number 1
of the Clubhouse Briefing podcast, which technically I know it’s episode number 2 But
I’m going to count this as episode number 1 since the last episode was just an introduction.
So this one, episode #1, technically two, but I won’t mention that going forward. But I
am your host, Colton Kelley and I’d to thank you for taking the time out of your day to
watch or listen to this podcast, depending on where you’re viewing us from. I know we’re on
Spotify, YouTube, and Apple podcasts. And so… wherever you are. Hope you’re enjoying your day.
You’re having a good day. It is a Saturday here in Texas and it’s 85 degrees and so cold enough
to start kinda wearing the hoodies and other stuff. But, you know, I recently got this Sunday
red hoodie and just was very excited to bust it out. And so I thought, okay, a Saturday at
five o’clock is pretty good to do that. So, hopefully wherever you are
in the world or in the USA you’re enjoying today. I know it’s the Ryder
Cup, Ryder Cup week ,and so just looking at this, it’s Saturday like I mentioned and so the US
has a lot of work to do. It’s currently 11, 11 1/2 to 4 1/2 points with Europe winning and so it looks like everything’s done and so yeah
tomorrow, Sunday, the US is going to have to come out strong and yeah I’ll report
back on that in a future episode but Like I said, it’s a good day. I’ve
been excited to make this podcast, but also share it with y’all. It’s been something
that’s been very, I guess, informing for me. It showed me a lot of things about the Golf
industry, especially professional Golf, because today we’re going to be talking
about ‘The Highest Paid Golfers for 2025.’ We’re going to cover first the highest paid
golfers on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Tour, and you’ll actually learn where they derive their
income from, whether it’s on-course or off-course. We’ll talk about 2nd thing with: The
official earnings of the PGA and of LIV Golf and then what are the Top-10
earners on each Tour. And then lastly: we’re going to compare how the 2025
PGA Tour earnings compares to 2005, 2015, 2020 and just look at how the
game is trending in terms of just how much are players earning? Are they earning
more per shot, per start, and also on a yearly basis? And so real fast, before we start diving
into the facts and figures, I want to let everyone know that I will have all of my resources, all
the data that I use. Well, primarily just the resources, maybe not the data, because it’s just
a lot of Excel tabs. But I will definitely have the websites and the resources that I used,
and they’ll be linked in the show notes. I haven’t done that yet. I’m pretty sure on
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, there’s a part of the description where I can do that.
And so I will have all of my show notes, all of my resources down there. And I wanted to mention
that before we get started. So, all right. First, I want to start with the PGA Tour’s 2025 earnings.
And so a little bit of backstory and history. So far in 2025, from the Sentry Championship
in Hawaii to the Tour Championship, which took place about a month ago by this point, the PGA
Tour has awarded $525.4 million in purse prize money for 2025, with the last tournament
being played, the FedEx Cup, paying out $40 million in prize money. LIV Golf has awarded
its players $260 million in purse money for 2025. And, including its team championship, which
they played in Michigan, that number jumps up to $310 million. That tournament, the
LIV Golf Team Championship in Michigan, it paid out $50 million prize money. And so I want
to start by giving LIV credit for this. Money, at least to the extent that it’s talked about now, wasn’t discussed within the professional Golf
community anywhere like this 3, 5, 10 years ago. I mean, there’s more discussion
about it online, on social media, during broadcasts than when I grew up playing
the game and watching ⁓ tournament Golf on TV. And whenever LIV Golf entered the scene,
and they started offering players the signing bonuses and the tens of millions along with the
larger purses that they promised, that caught everyone’s attention. So LIV Golf made players,
along with the golfing community as a whole, discuss whether there needs to be higher
payouts for professional golfers. And so I really have to give them credit for
pushing the needle, but at the same time, it may be a double-edged sword because now
it seems like every time I look at a PGA tournament, the weekly payouts for the Golf
tournaments are all that’s being discussed. Things that we used to talk about
so much like legacy, playing status, and the stories about the history of
the game seem to be swallowed up by, every week, the record shattering payouts that
golfers are getting or the bonuses through new programs offered to the game’s elite. And
so, it’s just, I’ll give LIV credit for it, but it’s also a double-edged sword that money’s
become more of a factor. You can’t ignore it. You can’t get on a PGA Tour broadcast or a LIV
Golf broadcast without money being brought up in some capacity. But I want to talk about why
should you care? I’ll get into the PGA Tour numbers like I said, but why should you care? Why
should the average Golf fan care about this? And especially you, I mean, you’re watching a Golf
finance podcast. And so I would describe you as someone like myself who cares more about
the game than a weekend golfer would, but Why should you? Why should I care about
this? I’ll say three reasons for that. The 1st reason is: that bigger purses are
drawing more of golf’s stars into the same competing space. So it’s bringing them all
together to play in the same competition. And as purses get larger, more of the game’s top
talent will theoretically show up due to there being more money on the table. Now, obviously,
as we’ve seen this year with Rory McIlroy, that’s not guaranteed. Players are going
to prioritize their events based on whether it gives them preparation for a
specific event, like The Open comes to mind. A lot of the PGA Tour players will go over
to Scotland, they’ll play in the Scottish Open, to get ready for the major tournament that’s
coming up. And so they’re going to play based on what gives them preparation. They’re,
you know, depending on how much they play, they’re going to want to have off weeks. They’re
going to want to have times where it’s just like, I’m not going to fly to California if
everything else is going to be in Florida, Texas, you know, Southeast
of the United States. And so based on their schedule, what they’re preparing
for, but also their schedule and what they play for, is also going to have to work in time for
them to recover. But theoretically, like I said, more money brings everyone together and
competes in the same space. The second thing is: that larger purses actually are going
to help keep the journeymen on the Tour, and it’s going to get new pros being able to play. It’ll get them to be able to play at their best
potential, I would say, but it’s also going to get them playing longer. And so in another video,
I’ll talk about the financial aspects of becoming an up-and-coming Tour pro. look at the Korn
Ferry Tour, but also young PGA Tour rookies. And for my argument’s sake, if Tour purses are
increasing, it’s going to let the journeymen, the people that aren’t winning week in, week
out, continue to compete because financially, Let’s say earnings are increasing faster
than inflation, they’re going to be able to cover their living costs, their
traveling costs, their agent’s costs, all the things that go into playing
professional Golf. They’ll be able to cover that and it’ll ease the financial
stress or the financial burden of making sure, okay, my house payment’s paid for. As Tour
purses increase, the players are getting a greater amount of money for their payout
percentages. I think it’s going to help. ⁓ journeymen and it’s going to let people that
are young, up and coming, actually be able to compete week to week because they’ll be able
to alleviate some of the financial strain that playing professional Golf can cause. Then the
3rd reason: is that larger purses are showing Golf’s popularity. And so, As I always heard
growing or you’re either growing or you’re dying. I think that age old adage is still true
in life and it’s true in Golf. Golf purses, whether they’re going up or down, they’re
going to reflect society’s interest in the game. So growing purses reflect companies
like major Fortune 500 companies or just other smaller companies, their willingness to
sponsor Golf tournaments is going to reflect, okay do they think that this investment is
going to pay off in the future? But it also shows fan involvement through ticket
sales, people showing up to watch. tournaments but also streaming so NBC,
media companies actually wanting to put their money into Golf media and Golf
broadcasts that’s showing the golfing public that okay these companies them putting
investments into that space it’s going to show that they believe it’s going to pay off
and so they do that because the game is popular the game is thriving and so, larger
purses mean that people are involved people are wanting to watch Golf and there’s
demand to be involved in that space. So now that we’ve discussed how this
impacts fans, how this impacts viewers, let’s break down the PGA Tour’s highest paid
golfers for 2025. I think it’s important to note all of the earnings that I’m going to be talking
about, they’re all on-the-course. They’re not plus bonuses, plus other stuff. LIV’s a bit
different, but strictly talking about this list, all the figures and facts I give
out are on-course earnings. Okay. So When looking at the PGA Tour’s Top-10 earners,
it’s pretty easy to see who’s going to be number 1. I mean, he’s been dominant all year.
And according to the PGA Tour’s website, link in the description below, the official
money rankings has Scottie Scheffler as #1. So, his total earnings are $26.5
million and he earned on average $5,141 per shot that he took during the year.
All right, let me do some quick calculations. Okay. If you made $30 an hour, let’s say that,
you made $30 an hour, you worked 40 hours a week. One week, you would earn $1,200. Times that
by 4, $4,800 for a whole month. Before taxes, you earn $30 an hour, 40 hours a week. That’s
what you make. Scottie made more than some people make in an entire month, on one shot
on average competing in the space of Golf. Very healthy earnings for Scottie. Scottie
won $15.9 million in earnings for winning 5 times on Tour, which technically that’s not
correct. I actually did these figures before the ProCore tournament. If you include that,
it’s 6, but between the Tour championship and the beginning of the year, he won 5 times and
he won an average of $1.4 million per start. His earnings away from the course were estimated
to be about $30 million based on my research. And that’s from May, 2024 to May, June, 2025. His
main sponsors are Nike Golf, TaylorMade Golf, and Rolex. Which Nike Golf, I feel like him
and Rory are really the poster childs. And so, that’ll be a repeating thing for, for Rory coming
up soon. But Scottie had a fantastic year on the PGA Tour. Number 2: is Tommy Fleetwood
with total earnings of $18.5 million. He earned on average $3,600 per shot that he
took during the year. He won $10 million for winning the Tour championship and he won
on average $973,000 per start for 2025. His earnings away from the course are estimated
to be about $2.5 million. Now in all honesty, according to the research I did, this
figure could be between $2 to $3 million, but I went right in the middle at that
$2.5M and his main sponsors include: HSBC, BMW and TAG Heuer. Number 3: Rory McIlroy as I
mentioned earlier. His total earnings were $16.99, $17 million and he earned on average $4,240
per shot that he had in competition. So, very close. This is just truly astounding
to me. Very close to like I said, to what somebody would make in a month earning
$30 an hour. And so Rory won $12.3 million dollars in earnings for winning 3 times
and he won on average roughly $1.1 million, about $1.06 million per start in 2025. His
earnings away from the course are estimated to be about $45 million dollars
from May of 2024 to May of 2025. His sponsorships include Nike
Golf, I mentioned, Omega Watches, TaylorMade Golf, and he has his own
sports fund named Symphony Ventures. Number 4 on the list is: Russell Henley.
His total earnings for the year were $14.63 million and he earned on average $3,106 per
every swing that he took during competition. He won $4 million for winning the Arnold
Palmer Invitational earlier this year, and he won on average $813,000 per start for
2025. Earnings away from the course for Russell. They’re estimated roughly to be about $700,000
for 2025. His sponsors include Titleist, which I can firsthand attest to because anytime
the T-Series, Irons commercials come on YouTube or on TV, I see him on there. And so I know
he’s sponsored by Titleist, Simplr Healthcare, but also Dunning Golf. And it will say
that finding sponsorship information on Russell was tough. However, I think that’ll
change because he won the Arnold Palmer, he’s currently playing in the
Ryder Cup, like I talked about. So I feel pretty secure that he’s going
to secure more sponsorship deals moving forward. But, all in all, good year for
Russell, he did very well. Number 5 is: J.J. Spaun. His total earnings were $12.89
million, so $12.9 million dollars, and he earned on average $2,230 for every shot
that he had in competition. J.J won $4.3 million in earnings for winning the US
Open back in June, and he won on average $560,000 per start that he had for the
year. J.J’s earnings away from the course, they’re estimated to be about $1.5 million dollars
for 2025. His main sponsors are Srixon Golf, which he uses for his club equipment, but also
a Amerisure Insurance and Rocket Mortgage. Number 6 on the list is: Justin Thomas.
His total earnings were $10.9 million. It’s technically $10.88, but rounded up. He earned
on average $2,058 for every shot that he had in competition. Justin won $3.6 million for winning
the RBC Heritage, he won on average $544,000 for every start that he had in 2025. His earnings
away from the course are estimated to be roughly about $8 million for 2025. His sponsors include
Footjoy, Titleist, and Ralph Polo Lauren. Also, Ralph Polo Lauren, I’m going to tag you
in this. You see the video, you like it, feel free to sponsor right here. Ralph Polo,
we’ll do it in a heartbeat. Number 7 is: Sepp Straka. He had a total
earnings of $10.65 million, earning on average $2,018 per
shot that he had during the year. Sepp won $5,184,000 in earnings for winning twice
on Tour this year, and he won on average $484,000 per start in 2025. Earnings away from the course
are estimated to be about $2 million for this year. Main sponsors are Srixon Golf, which he uses
for equipment, along with Adidas Golf for clothing and NetJets. Number 8: Ben Griffin. His total
earnings for the year were $9.99 million, $10 million dollars. He earned on average $1,499
for every shot that he had in competition this year. in earnings for winning twice on Tour.
He won the Zurich along with the Colonial, I want to say. I believe the Colonial
in Fort Worth. He won on average $356,000 per start in 2025.
Ben, he also was a hustler. He I think I’ll mention this later, but he
competed in more PGA Tour tournaments than anyone else on this Top-10 list.
I want to say he had 28 starts, but I’ll touch on that in a little while.
For sponsorships, I couldn’t find any hard figures for his off the course earnings, but
I do know his sponsors include Maxfli which global ambassadors for the brand and the
Golf ball. But he’s also sponsored by … I believe Lord Abbott who helped him get into
professional Golf while he was working as a Mortgage Loan Officer. So, those are the
two main ones that I found. his off the course earnings are a bit sparse, but I would
personally estimate between $500 (thousand) and a But, I do know those are two of his sponsors.
Number 9 on list is: Patrick Cantlay. His total earnings for the year
were $9.41 million and he earned on average $1,925 for every shot
that he took in competition. Now, I do need to mention that despite making it
on the Tour’s List of Highest Paid Golfers, he didn’t win in 2025. And he earned on
average $495,000 per start in 2025. His off course earnings were sparse. I didn’t really find
any, but through his website, PatrickCantlay.com, that website details his current sponsors
and they include, but they’re not limited to, just named a few, they include Apollo,
Delta, DeWalt, Cisco, Titleist, FootJoy, along with NetJets. And last on the list,
Justin Rose, last but not least, of course, is Justin Rose. His on-course earnings
were $8.86 million and he earned on average $2,163 for shot that he had during the year. Justin won $3.6 million in earnings for winning
the FedEx St. Jude Championship earlier this year, and he won on average $492,000 per start that he
2025. Earnings off the course, they’re estimated to be about $14 million, according to Forbes.
Like I said, link in the description. His sponsors include MasterCard, Morgan Stanley Financial
company, Lampkin, Titleist, along with Workday. Now, with all that being said, I’ve covered all
of the Top-10. I will say these are the 4 main takeaways for me. They are that Scottie Scheffler
and Rory McIlroy are the only two players on the PGA Tour who earned on average over $1 million
for every start that they played. So, a very successful year for Scottie and Every time
they teed it up, four days worth of work, they earned on average $1M+. So very good year.
result, thing that I noticed was Ben Griffin was hustling this year. He had 5 more starts than
anyone else on this list. The next closest was J.J Spaun and the results paid off. 2 wins and
being 8th on this year’s money list. All in all, very good year for Ben. All credit Number 3
on the list of my takeaways was all respect to the PGA Tour and their decision to make the
payouts increase for the Tour Championship. But the Tour Championship is the reason that Tommy
Fleetwood and Patrick Cantlay are on this list. Tommy especially for winning $10
million. … I just feel like there’s an over emphasis on the Tour Championship
payouts even compared to the majors. said, J.J Spaun won $4.2 million for
winning the US Open. I mean, one of the hardest Golf tournaments in the
world, bar none. The Tour Championship, Tommy won double that plus. All credit to the PGA
Tour and increasing what they pay the players. I just think the Tour Championship is more out
of balance. I mean, know it’s the top 30 guys, the best competition. It’s just out of balance.
I mean, I would say maybe like Augusta, US Open, you win $5 million for say a larger field. But all
that being said, I think maybe Augusta, US Open, $5 million and then rebalance the
Tour Championship to like $7.5M, $8M. It just feels like winning the US Open
is more of an accomplishment, in my opinion. Not saying it’s right and I’m saying
it’s wrong, winning a US Open in my opinion is more difficult than winning
the Tour Championship at Eastlake. So all props to it, but that is the only reason
why Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Cantlay are on the list. And then fourth takeaway, which
this will tie in what we go and cover next, fourth takeaway is that the PGA Tour’s signature
events all had purses of $20 million in 2025, and that is the exact same amount as LIV
Golf’s standard purse. And so like I mentioned, props to LIV Golf, they’re pushing the envelope,
signature events are definitely the more lucrative tournaments for PGA Tour players
and so all props to LIV Golf and kudos to the people that won the signature
events because they profited handsomely. Fairway Foundations / The
Clubhouse Briefing (19:37) Okay, now moving on to LIV Golf. Before I start,
I do want to say that the LIV Golf numbers, they’re only going to be for LIV
Golf league. They don’t include the Major championships. And for fact
sake, I could include those in here, but I feel like the return for the effort
I’d have to put into it isn’t worth the time. Plus the PGA Tour’s website includes the Major
championships into their the earnings included. those tournaments are also inside
the PGA Tour schedule on the website, and so you can see when they are and also how much
money the PGA players earn for that. For LIV Golf, their website does not include that information,
and so I think as LIV Golf continues to gain more Official World Golf Ranking points and more
of their players qualify for the majors, it’ll no doubt become easier, but currently I don’t
think the effort is worth the return. Along with I subconsciously associate the majors with
the PGA Tour. Whenever I say these figures, I’m speaking only about LIV Golf League. I’m
not talking about Major championships or other things. I just wanted to say that before
I start. Looking at LIV Golf’s numbers. According to an article that was published
by Golf Monthly, I’ll link it down in the show notes, like I all the resources, the
league’s top earner was Joaquin Niemann. His total earnings for the year were
$22.2 million and he earned on average $8,295 for every shot that he had. Joaquin
earned $20 million. You’ll notice a common theme for LIV Golf is that if you win a tournament, $4
million, or 20% of the purse. So he won 5 times, giving him $20 million in earnings and he won an
average of $1.59 million for every start in 2025. Now, if you include his earnings for
the individual championship payout, his total earnings jump up to $30.2M. Joaquin sponsors, they are Rolex, Adidas, and Ping
Golf, which he uses for his equipment. Those are the main three that I found. And I do want to
say that for only going to list the sponsors, but not the estimated earnings
that they have from sponsorship Number 2 on the list is: Jon Rahm. His
total earnings on the course were $13.6 million, earning an average of $5,118 per shot
that he had during competition. And I do want to point out that Jon Rahm did not win once in LIV
Golf for 2025. However, he finished 2nd in the league’s overall money list. you look at the
total number of strokes throughout the whole entire LIV Golf season, he was the leader
for that. I think total wise, let me look. His total strokes for 14 events was 2,659
and so I guess ‘stroke-wise,’ he performed the best on the LIV Golf league, but
he did not win a tournament. So very, very consistent play, but he didn’t win a
tournament for this year. the individual championship, his total earnings jumped
to $31.6 million and he won on average $972.1 thousand dollars per start for 2025. Now, if you look at the total earnings
with the individual championship, Jon did have a higher earnings at $31.6 million
compared to Joaquin’s $30M, strictly looking at on-course earnings, not including the
individual payouts. so Bryson, Joaquin and Jon Rahm all were the three players that
received those payouts. But I’m looking at throughout the year, before any bonuses, what
did the players earn? So, all that’s to say, Jon earned more in the long run over the entire
season with payouts, while Joaquin earned more during those 14 tournaments that they
played. Looking at Jon’s sponsors, his sponsors include Callaway, Rolex, and
Santander Bank out of Spain. And fun fact, Santander Bank also sponsors Jon
Rahm’s LIV Golf team, Legion XIII, through Open Bank, one of their subsidiaries.
Quick sponsorship information for Jon. Number 3 on the list was: Bryson DeChambeau with
total earnings of $10.3 million. He earned on average $3,858 per shot that he had during the
year. And if you include his individual earnings from the championship, individual championship
payout, his total earnings jumped to $14.3 million. He won $4 million for winning once on LIV
Golf and he averaged $738,000 per start for 2025. Bryson’s sponsors include Reebok Golf, which is
also the team apparel partner for his Golf team on LIV, the Crusher’s Golf Club, along with
Qualcomm Technologies. And I would argue that Bryson has the largest presence on YouTube Golf.
And so if you factor in his YouTube channel, earning sponsorships and advertising time that
he has for that, I would say that probably equates to several hundred thousands of dollars,
possibly even a million dollars in ad revenue and other things from YouTube. So, (he’s) doing very
well off the course, but the main sponsor that I found was Reebok. And his equipment wise, it’s
kind of just all over the place. He doesn’t really have a lockdown sponsor, but Reebok Golf is his
main sponsor. He’s doing quite well, I would say. Number 4 for LIV Golf is: Dean Bermester. Total
earnings are $9.8 million and he earned on average $3,612 per shot that he had during the year.
He won $4 million for winning once on LIV Golf. and he won an average of $702,000 per start. His
main sponsors are Castor Golf Apparel, along with Srixon Golf, which I believe he uses for his
equipment. Number 5 is: Sebastian Munoz. His total earnings for the year was $9.7 million and
he earned $3,604 per shot that he had during the year. He won $4 million for when he once on LIV
Golf and he averaged $694,000 per start for 2025. For Sebastian, sponsorship wise, the only
information that I could find was his main sponsor, Ping Golf, for his equipment.
I will say a lot of the LIV players, was hard to find specific sponsors unless
they had their own website. And for Sebastian, Ping Golf was the only main
sponsor that I found for him. Looking now at number 6 on the list, it
is: Talor Gooch. His total earnings were $8.7 million and he earned on average $3,201
for every shot that he had during the year. He won once on LIV Golf, earned $4 million
and he averaged $624.7 thousand dollars per start in 2025. His sponsorship information
was relatively limited, with the only real information I found being from his foundations
partners. Those are ‘Hope is Alive’, the AJGA, Aligned Automation, Aligned Global
Consulting, along with Rosehill Builders, just to name a few. Number 7 on the list for
LIV was: Patrick Reed. His total earnings were $8.2 million and he earned on average $3,031
for every shot that he had during the year. He won $4 million for when he wants, I believe
in Texas and Dallas on LIV Golf. He averaged $588.5 thousand for every start that he
had during the year. His sponsors are Honestly, I have no idea. From all the
information that I could find on Patrick, it doesn’t look like he has any sponsors, to
be honest. I know his website, ‘GoTeamReed,’ it wouldn’t load for me. I couldn’t get it to
work on my VPN, or off my VPN. And I know his past sponsors include PXG, Nike, and Castor,
⁓ But I don’t think they’re in the picture any longer. And so honestly for Patrick,
maybe the Golf ball, maybe Titleist, but… I couldn’t find any information on
that, so just kind of up in the air with Patrick. Number 8 on the list is:
Sergio Garcia. He had total earnings of $8 million and he earned on average $2,927
for a shot that he had during the year. He won $4 million for winning once on the Tour
and he averaged $571.5 thousand per start for 2025. Sponsorship information for Sergio was
probably the most accessible, easy to find. His sponsors include Omega, he’s a
global ambassador for the company, UBS, Goodr Sunglasses, and Stuburt Golf.
Number 9 is Marc Leishman. His total earnings for LIV Golf were $6.72 million. He
earned on average $2,440 for every shot that he had during the year. Marc won $4 million
for winning once on the league, and he won an average of $480,000 per start for 2025. His
sponsors include Back Bay Brewing Company, Callaway Golf, which he’s been with for quite
a while, and Nexbelt. Lastly on the list, but not least indeed, is: Carlos Ortiz. He was
number 10 with total earnings of $6.69 million, and he earned on average $2,459 for every shot
that he had in competition. Need to point out that Carlos didn’t win this year on LIV Golf, but
he still managed to be in the Top-10 earners. So like Jon Rahm, very consistent performance
all year, and he won an average of $477.9. $478,000 for every start in 2025. His
sponsors include Greyson Golf Apparel, Stubert Apparel, and also Rolex. So, looking at all those players, Top-10 list
for LIV, a couple of main takeaways for me are, 1st: Joaquin Nieman’s domination. He was this
season’s only multi-time winner, and he was handsomely rewarded for it. He won $20 million
in 5 starts. So very, very impressive, leaving his other 9 tournaments that he played to give him
$2.2 million. So he earned roughly 9x as much in 5 starts compared to the rest of his entire season.
So very good return on his starts, making him the highest earning player across the
PGA Tour, along with LIV Golf. 2nd: I think I touched on this earlier, but I want to
reiterate this because it needs to be mentioned, is that if you tally up all of the player’s
strokes throughout every tournament that LIV Golf played, Jon Rahm had the total lowest number
of strokes across the league. And despite that, he didn’t win a tournament this season.
And so very consistent, very high achieving and high performing. ⁓ He just happened to be
outplayed every week whenever he would go against Joaquin Nieman or a few other people and so
very consistent play. He had a lot of top 10s, um and a very good year for Jon.
Third is that: Joaquin Nieman, tying back into point #1, he earned 61%
more per shot than Scottie Scheffler did. Joaquin earned roughly $8,300 and
that’s compared to Scottie’s $5,140. Meaning, Joaquin played five fewer
tournaments than Scottie and LIV Golf, their three-day tournaments,
PGA Tour’s four-day tournaments, and he earned $3,000 more for every time he hit
a Golf ball in competition. And so I think if LIV Golf could figure out how to fix their
Official World Golf Ranking points for the league and that fixed the issue of getting their
players qualified for the majors, I would argue based on these numbers, that it’s the best
time for value money in Golf. So if a player is treating themselves, I they’re not doing
this literally, but I think if they’re viewing themselves and they’re treating themselves as
an employee, I’m an employee, going to maximize the time that I spend and what I earn doing my
craft and be as good of a professional as I can. Looking at LIV Golf League, a player’s time value
for their effort, for their playing results, is very, very lucrative on
LIV Golf. LIV Golf is very, very well compensating their players.
They’re getting a good return on their time, I think. And so, like I said, based
on these numbers, LIV Golf has a very, very good financial proposition for the league.
And so all that being done with LIV, I want to move next to the third thing that I want to
cover. And really the eye-opening part for me is If you look at the PGA Tour’s earnings for
2025 and you compare them to 2020 when Dustin Johnson world #1, you compare those to 2015
whenever Jordan Spieth was #1 in the world, and you Tiger in 2005 when he was #1 in
the Looking first, decided to compare the PGA Tour’s 2025 official money earnings
to those of 5 years ago when I said … Dustin Johnson was at world #1. And I think
it’s fair to mention that during this time, COVID-19 was everywhere. It was the COVID-19
outbreak. So, competitions and major tournaments, they’re in flux. Everything’s changing. There’s
a lot of just making do with what we have and trying to figure things out as we go. And so
the schedule for 2020 was sparse compared to 2025 and even the following years at 2021
and 2022. But at that time, the world was doing a good thing in fighting COVID. And so in
terms of the PGA Tour’s average purse amount. It was $7.47 million across
all regular competition events, and it was $11.7 million across the
four majors. so Dustin Johnson earned $5.84 million in 2020 as the #1 player in
the world, and that is $20.7 million lower than what Scottie earned this year. Now,
granted, Scottie earned more money because he won more times than Dustin did, I believe
Dustin won 3 times in 2020 and Scottie won 5 – 6 depending on when you look at the
schedule for 2025, but still $20.7 million less than what Scottie earned this year for
Dustin Johnson. And adjusting for inflation, Dustin’s earnings in 2020, they’re equivalent
to $7.3 million in 2025, which is still $19.3 million lower than Scottie’s. Dustin
averaged $1.7 million in earnings for tournament that he won in 2020. And compared
to Scottie’s $3.2M, that’s really $3.18M, But $3.2 million in 2025, that is
roughly *$1.5 million less for every tournament that he won Finally, looking
at every shot that Dustin Johnson hit in a tournament that he won, he averaged $6,520
for earnings per shot. And in 2025, Scottie averaged $11,903. And so that’s 82% higher than
Dustin Johnson 5 years ago. Now, moving to 2015. You compare 2025 earnings to 2015, Jordan
Spieth’s #1 player in the world. In terms of the average purse amount, it’s $6.42 million
across regular competitions events 10 years ago, and it was $9.8 million across the four Majors. Jordan Spieth earned $12 million in
2015 as the #1 player in the world. And that is $14.5 million lower than
Scottie’s in 2025. Adjusting for inflation, his 2015 earnings would have been $16.2 million.
And that’s roughly about $10.3 million lower than Scottie Scheffler. He averaged $1.4 million
in earnings for every tournament that he won, compared to Scottie’s $3.2M, about $1.8M, $1.9M
less than what Scottie earned for Jordan. And then finally, looking at every shot that
Jordan hit in a competition that he won. He averaged $5,165 in earnings per shot, and
Scottie averaged, like I mentioned earlier, $11,900. So that is, for Scottie, 130 %
higher than what Jordan earned 10 years ago. And so now, looking at the goat, looking at Tiger: obviously with this being 20 years ago, we’re
going to have to adjust for inflation just like we did with everything else. so it’s 20
years ago, a lot’s changed in the world. But I would say this is arguably Golf’s biggest
time in the world with Tiger Woods. He spent 371 weeks at world #1 throughout his career up
to this point. I would argue that Tiger Woods, more than anyone, should have been compensated
for his role in elevating Golf on a global stage, just because of his dominance, the
margin of wins, his global presence. He was just the game’s biggest needle mover.
And I want to see how his earnings compare to Scottie in 2025. And I would say Tiger laid
the groundwork and the foundation for Scottie and every other great player that’s come after
Tiger. And so looking at 20 years ago for 2005, the PGA Tour’s average purse amount was $5.2
million across its regular season events. And, then the majors were at $5.9M for Tiger Woods earned $10.63 million as the
#1 player in the world in 2005. And this is $15.96 million lower than Scottie
Schaeffler in 2025. Adjusting for inflation, Tiger’s earnings would have been about $17.6M, so a huge adjustment for inflation. They
were $17.6 million, which is still $8.9 million less than what Scottie had this year.
Tiger averaged $1.2 million in earnings for every tournament that he won compared
to Scottie’s $3.2M, so $2 million less. Finally, for every shot that Tiger Woods
hit in a tournament that he won, he averaged $4,220 in earnings and Scottie averaged $11,900.
That is 182% higher than Tiger Woods 20 years ago. So, starting with the first main takeaway: Scottie
Scheffler earned $3.2 million in average for his wins this year. It’s $1.5 million more than
Dustin Johnson. It’s $1.8 million more than Jordan Spieth. And it’s $2 million more than
Tiger Woods 2025. Golfers, particularly the highest earning ones that we’ve discussed, are
making more money on the game’s biggest stages than they ever have before. Scottie is doing
fantastic compared to golfers in the past. even when adjusting for inflation. Number
1: Scottie had a very successful year and he made $2 million more for every tournament
that he won, than Tiger did. Very big ⁓ jump, as you can see, as we discussed. The 2nd
one, bringing LIV back into the picture: is that LIV golfers, holding their own
financially. The league’s purses are $20 million per tournament that’s
higher than every PGA Tour regular season event and they’re comparable to
the signature events on the PGA Tour. And I would say that the LIV golfers,
I’ve heard the LIV Golf CEO, my gosh, I’m absolutely forgetting his name. is They just got a new one. Scott O’Neil. So I’ve
heard on a podcast that Rick Shiels did with Scott O’Neil, talking about how players have walked up
to him and they’ve talked to Scott about, like we really, really enjoy the relaxed schedule. Their
wives are enjoying it. I remember Scott pointed that out in his interview with Rick Shiels. And so
I will say that LIV golfers enjoy a more relaxed schedule. It’s only 3 day tournaments compared
to 4 days. And while all 10, all 10 LIV golfers on LIV Golf that we talked about, earned more
money per shot that they took than any other PGA Tour player except for Scottie and Rory.
And so all 10 LIV golfers, Joaquin and Carlos, they earn more money each time they hit the
Golf ball in competition than anyone else on the PGA Tour bar, Scottie and Rory. And so very
good performance from the LIV golfers. I think, like I mentioned, time value for your money — ⁓ LIV Golfers hold their own financially
and does very well, would argue. 3rd on my main takeaways: was the average
PGA Tour purse amount. If you look at it, adjusted for inflation, it increased 7% from
2005 – 2015. It increased 9% from 2015 – 2020, and it increased 36% more from 2020 to 2025.
And so if you start 20 years ago to current day, that is a 58% increase in 20 years.
And so as I mentioned, LIV Golf, COVID, more people being home wanting to watch
Golf on TV, also just Golf’s popularity boom after COVID. ⁓ But I would argue LIV
Golf has pushed the needle. It made the money conversation become more of a important factor
for players where they’re going to go play at. And it’s also just become more of an
issue that both tours need to talk about and have to deal with. And I would
argue LIV Golf has been a significant contributing factor to that and also just
Golf’s popularity growing after COVID. Lastly, the fourth main takeaway
I had is that: the PGA Tour’s, just looking solely at the PGA Tour,
their ‘value-per-shot metric,’ how much players are making on every shot
they hit, has increased over time, showing me that players are able to better
capitalize on the amount of time they spend on the Golf course. If I have to be out here
for four days, I want to earn as much as I can. And so, Scottie’s winning per shot earnings were
$11,800. That is, again, $5,000 more than Dustin. That is $7,600 more than Tiger’s 20 years
ago. Players are getting paid more for every shot they hit on the Golf course. That is a
good thing for the players. They’re getting, you could argue, a better share of what
they’re owed for the demand and the value they bring to the tournament. Players are
increasing their earnings and that’s good for Sorry, if you hear a dog, that is not
my dog, but the neighbor’s dog loves to bark at random points. ⁓ But all that
being said, this discussion circles back to the point that I made earlier. Money’s
becoming more of focal point in the world of Golf. Players want to maximize their time
on the course. They want to play in the most lucrative space that they can. LIV Golf’s
entrance into the golfing world 3 years ago, it’s changed how players choose where they want to
play. And I will add that another point is, after every tournament, a PGA Tour or a LIV
Golf, I log on social media, Instagram, YouTube, any sort of social media platform.
One of posts that I’m going to see is a $20 million purse for LIV, or the winner of
this PGA Tour event* is making $4 million, $3.1 million or something similar to that. So
I think the conversation around money in Golf, it’s not going to go away anytime soon. It’s not
just going to disappear. And I’ve really been quite fond of LIV Golf for the financial aspect.
And I have to say props to them for bringing about a change in purse amounts for the PGA Tour and
professional golfers as a whole. And I wish that I could have compared the payout percentages in
this video, like looking at the winner’s payout percentages, looking at payout percentages on
different placings in tournaments. So 25th place, 50th place, 71st place, and see how
those have changed over time. But It already took me 2-3 weeks to compile
all this data and this information. So, that is another video in itself, but keep on
the lookout. It’s probably going to come soon. And so by this point, you’ve probably listened
to close to 90+ statistics about Golf earnings. And so I would call you a dedicated listener.
If it’s my mom, love you. Thank you. But I like to thank everyone else for supporting
the channel and watching this podcast and listening to this podcast. As I mentioned at the
beginning of this podcast, it’s our 2nd episode. And so it’s taken me quite a while to gather
all the information. Excel has been my best friend through this process. And so I’ll
make sure to link every website that I used, every resource that I used ⁓ during the show notes
of this video. And if you would please share this episode, share it with a coworker, share it with
a friend, anyone that you think would find these interesting. Like I mentioned, I put in a lot
of effort. I’d like to make sure that I get the best return for my time. And so, ⁓ any support
that you can give me, I really appreciate that. You can find the podcast here on YouTube or
on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. YouTube’s going to have video. It’s just me talking on the phone.
so not much, not much more I can really say about that. I mean, you will be able to see my Golf
cart, whatever drink I have. It was Topo Chico last time. It’s changed between, if you haven’t
also noticed, this was recorded throughout the span of 2 days. And so it changed from vitamin
C to just plain water that I ran out of. And so you’ll be able to see whatever clothes I have
on, my wonderful computer case that I have. and my nice Golf cart. you can find us on YouTube,
Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. And before I finish, the next episode that I’m working on,
I’m going to give a teaser for it. We’re going to cover Augusta National’s changes
for qualifying for the Masters Tournament. 2026, it’s only getting closer. And so recently the Masters released new information about
how players are going to qualify for this tournament next year. And so you
definitely don’t want to miss that. I’ll give my thoughts on it, what’s going to
change for professionals, but also amateurs, that affects players across the And so thanks
again for watching. Hope everyone has a great rest of their day. Keep on the lookout for the
next episode and we’ll be back shortly. Thank you.
1 Comment
Way to go bubs