Players on the Korn Ferry Tour are all striving for one goal – to reach the PGA Tour. The top flight of golf – arguably in the world – has the deepest fields, the most history and – crucially – some of the biggest prize purses.

Elsewhere, the LIV Golf League offers $4 million from a total pot of $20 million to each of its 13 individual event winners per season. However, the difficulty of earning a spot in the PIF-backed circuit makes it much tougher to access for those in the second tier.

Meanwhile, the DP World Tour provides the third-highest average payout week to week in men’s golf. The prize purses begin at roughly $2 million per event before rising steadily through to around $4 million as the season progresses.

Although the payouts on the Korn Ferry Tour don’t quite reach that level, there is still $1 million to play for at every regular-season tournament before the four-event Korn Ferry Tour Playoffs introduce $1.5 million purses into the equation.

A Korn Ferry Tour logo on a board

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The winner of each $1 million Korn Ferry Tour event picks up $180,000 (pre-tax) while second and third earns $90,000 and $60,000, respectively. The top-10 are looking at more than $25,000 each, and anyone who makes the cut should start with $4,000 before taxes and other deductions are taken into account.

For simplification purposes, the figures in this article will be pre-tax numbers as the amount people are taxed can differ between US state and country.

Earning prize money is vital for a Korn Ferry Tour player as there is no stipend available, as there is on the PGA Tour. Anyone with fully exempt membership on the leading US circuit is able to rely on a $500,000 stipend to prop up their finances, called the Earnings Assurance Program.

On the PGA Tour, players can either take the money up front and will not earn any prize money until they break through that number or they can defer the payment and take it at a later date if their season is not panning out the way they’d hoped. This is not the case on the Korn Ferry Tour, with players needing to perform well early on or risk making a loss.

Jay Monahan speaks at the Memorial Tournament

Jay Monahan introduced the Earnings Assurance Program to the PGA Tour back in 2022 (Image credit: Getty Images)

In terms of typical prize money earnings per year, the average total for a Korn Ferry Tour pro in 2025 was $112,560 prior to the Tour Championship – almost double the average US citizen’s salary ($66,622). The Korn Ferry Tour figure has remained fairly consistent since 2023 with $112,503 last season and $120,842 the year before.

Johnny Keefer – who led the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour points list prior to the final tournament – had racked up an impressive $804,349. Yet, for context, that would have left him 141st on the PGA Tour’s Official Money list – some $27 million behind Scottie Scheffler and a way off the PGA Tour average of $2,195,958.

However, Korn Ferry Tour players do have other sources of income aside from simply prize money. Due to the exposure the second tier receives, most pros will be backed by a cluster of sponsors who will provide them with everything they need to be successful and possibly small financial packages in return for promotional work or hitting on-course targets as well.

For example, Korn Ferry Tour player James Nicholas shared that he picked up an added $20,000 in contract bonuses from his sponsors via a top-3 finish at the Compliance Solutions Championship.

On the flip side, there are plenty of takeaways players will have to consider every time they tee it up.

One of the first equations players will have to take into account relates to how much their caddie receives. As is the case for most professional tour golf, each caddie will pick up a weekly check – that is their base rate.

Then, depending on whether the player makes the cut and how high up the leaderboard they finish, a bonus could be added on top. If the player wins, the caddie may receive 10% of the $180,000 check, so that might be a welcome $18,000 which is being passed on to the looper.

Peter Kuest (second left) and Johnny Keefer (second right) stand next to their caddies during the final round of the 2025 Compliance Solutions Championship

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The bonus scale drops to roughly 7% for a top-10 finish while 5% could be shared if a Korn Ferry Tour player simply makes the weekend.

Another payout that pros might have to account for involves their coaching team. If they have a swing coach and a putting coach, for example, both are likely to receive a fee for their input. It may differ from player to player in terms of whether that is a flat figure of changes depending on their result.

In terms of other weekly dues, fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour players do not have to pay an entrance fee. However, they are required to cough up $65 every time they compete for insurance fees, locker room fees and club repair truck fees.

Then there are the obvious expenses like travel to and from tournaments, accommodation during the week, food away from the course, on-course snacks and rental cars – which are sometimes discounted for Korn Ferry Tour competitors – to account for.

Overall, the average Korn Ferry Tour’s salary will vary greatly based on all of the aforementioned factors. Ultimately, most are making a profit and living comfortably while still working hard in order to continue funding their pro golf careers.

However, the ultimate goal for the vast majority on the Korn Ferry Tour is to keep progressing and reach either the PGA Tour or the LIV Golf League, where there are eye-watering amounts of money available each week – particularly if they play well.

Write A Comment