The players PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan made more money than last year

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The PGA Tour’s 2024 finances have been released, and the numbers are startling.

Tax documents for 2024 were recently filed, revealing that the PGA Tour spent $1.2 Billion in expenses and brought in just $760 million in revenue, seeing losses of around $440 million that season. 

The same documents revealed that the Tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, took home over $19 million during that year, according to reporting from the Sports Business Journal. 

That’s a massive sum of money, and far more than most of the players on the PGA Tour could even dream of bringing in over the course of a season. In fact, only one PGA Tour player made more money than Monahan in 2024.

Only Scottie Scheffler made more money than Jay Monahan in 2024

According to the PGA Tour official 2024 money list, only world number one Scottie Scheffler made more money from the Tour than Monahan that season. Scheffler won seven events to take home around $29 million. 

That means Monahan earned more money than Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele, who both won twice. Schauffele won two majors and still earned a million dollars less, and McIlroy took home $9 million less than the commissioner. 

In fact, Monahan took home more money in 2024 than McIlroy and Collin Morikawa combined, which raises questions about the distribution of money on the tour when the sport’s biggest stars are making half the money of the commissioner. 

McIlroy is one of golf’s richest players, so he won’t miss the money, but it’s more a point of principle. After all, it’s stars such as McIlroy who ultimately bring the dollars in.

Looking at LIV Golf, Monahan still took home more money than the vast majority of the tour. Only Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann made more, but that doesn’t take into consideration the money paid to players for joining LIV in the first place. 

But after these reports, it’s clear to see why some players on the PGA Tour would see LIV as an attractive financial option.

Xander Schauffele was highly critical of Jay Monahan in 2024

Monahan has been a controversial figure during the PGA Tour’s saga with LIV Golf. He was highly critical of players who left the PGA Tour for LIV, then secretly agreed to a merger between the two parties in 2023, which was unbeknownst to the majority of PGA Tour players. 

Talks of a LIV Golf merger have stalled, but the relationship between Monahan and some of the players never truly recovered. Monahan announced he was stepping down from his role in June. 

Schauffele might be particularly irritated by the news that Monahan made more than him in 2024. In June that year, he was highly critical of his tenure as commissioner.

The two-time major winner said, “What I can say is that throughout all of this turmoil, what’s probably bothered me the most – now more than ever – is that we need someone to lead us, we need a leader.”

He continued, “I’ve criticised Jay in the past, but the fact is not once has our commander-in-chief stood up for all of us players and said, ‘This is happening, this is where we’re going,’ and protected us, basically.

“He didn’t take a stand when anyone left, he didn’t come out to the public and face the music, none of that.

“Obviously, there were reasons [Monahan took a medical leave of absence in the immediate aftermath of the announcement], but historically in tough situations you need a strong leader who can make the big waves smaller and make us feel better about what we’re doing. Right now, we don’t have that.

“Whether I trust him or not doesn’t matter. There are around 250 guys on tour. That’s a lot of people to satisfy.

“But what I know can help and know is right is that we need someone to stand up in front of everyone and lead the charge, whatever direction we’re going in, and wear the hard shots so the players don’t have to and take command of a fractured and sensitive situation.”

While Schauffele is likely happy with the change at the top of the PGA Tour, he may well feel like he was sold short financially by how much Monahan took home that year.