The Real Cost Of Being A PGA Tour Player | Ask The Expert | Golf Digest

The Real Cost Of Being A PGA Tour Player | Ask The Expert | Golf Digest



Ever wondered how a PGA Tour player pays their caddie? How they choose a coach? How often they fly private? Well, we asked all those questions and more, submitted by you, to three-time PGA Tour winner, Ben Griffin.

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View Comments (46)
  1. The prize money is effectively their revenue what drops out of the bottom after everyone including the tax man has had theirs is the profit (earnings), Ben Griffin LLC.

  2. In my country, Finland, we have a saying: Money comes to money.

    So whole 50k a week is a lot. It also means he’s investing in his success. Just like in business, if you aren’t willing to invest in success you might still succeed but the likelihood is going to be lower.

  3. 2.6 million a year in expenses then you pay taxes on the rest of all of that. He had 10 million in earnings so 7 million is like 2.5 million in taxes estimated. Well guess you better make some cuts cause needing like 5 million just to break even is wild lol.

  4. One of the things I have noticed is todays pro golfers need a team around them. Other than a caddie, why would you take a coach with you to every tournament ? Why a trainer ? The last two seem silly for every tournament. Yes a coach is important but when should you take over your own swing and be able to diagnose and fix a swing issue during a tournament ? I can see taking a coach to a major.

  5. A real honest insight to a pga tour player’s financial situation, paying out millions sounds terrible but you’ve had to play extraordinary well and earned a serious amount to be paying out those sums. It’s reassuring to know that some millionaires actually do pay their taxes. Thanks Ben, wish you a prosperous future.

  6. Amazing surge he engineered last year – and happy to see a pro wearing sunglasses as I do, though wish neither he nor Rickie needed them for eye issues.

  7. How do these semi-anonymous golfers make so much money. Based on the data, nobody even watches golf (outside of the majors). Liv golf really did force the PGA to pump up the prize money didn't it?

  8. I love Ben, especially because he uses Maxfli balls. I started using them before I found out Ben used them but I absolutely feel like the performance is just as good as Pro Vs and half the price. (For the Maxfli tour versions at least)

  9. Nice to see you use YouTube Studio for captions, they can be turned off BUT you need to hire an Editor the automated captions still need to be reviewed and if you do already have an Editor they need to be supervised!

  10. I like the part where if you don't make the cut, you have provided the PGA Tour 2 days of entertainment that they sell on your behalf and then you don't get any of it. Professional golfers are the worst negotiators on the planet.

  11. Sitting in #17th on the ranking, he is in a position to talk about high overhead. He's legitimate. A good athlete has to be smart enough to know how to stay focused and in-form at that level and the cost of it is secondary.

  12. Ben seems to be one of the great guys on tour. Thx for the info. Most interesting to many that sorta track his explanation is the quarterly taxes based on the previous year. So if a golfer has a great year and has a $5M total tax liability that year they'll have to pay taxes of $1.25M for the first quarter of the following year, even if they've earned nothing. Yikes. That can later be adjusted based on real earnings for that later year, but the burden of paying with no current earnings can surely be a big deal for many. Also, note that the 50k expenses includes the % of winnings to caddy and any bonuses to coaches. Winning a couple tournaments surely drives the number up in those regards.

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