Golf is very much a money game these days, so we decided to take a look at the highest-earning golfers in the history of the sport.
The world of golf, as with every sport, has become more and more money-driven as the years have passed. Long gone are the days of the 1980s when golfers would earn around $200,000 for winning a major championship.
These days, purses for PGA Tour golf tournaments are often in the tens of millions of dollars. Plus, with the arrival of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour to the golfing scene, players have even more scope to get rich quick.
Given this increased focus on money, it is becoming far more widely used as a metric to measure success in the sport; sometimes even more so than tournament wins.
This past year has seen Scottie Scheffler dominating the Tour once more, while Rory McIlroy has finally achieved his career grand slam. Both players have made a lot of money this season, but how does it compare in the bigger picture, and how are LIV players faring?
Here, we look at the highest earners in golfing history in order to find out who has brought in the most prize money to date. Without any further ado, here’s the top 10 – as sourced from Spotrac. Note, this list is based on prize earnings, and does not take into account sponsorship deals.
- READ MORE: The top 10 players with the most weeks as world number one after Scottie Scheffler’s recent rise
10. Jordan Spieth (USA) – $95,388,130
A decade ago, Jordan Spieth was the hottest young golfer coming up on the Tour and the world truly appeared to be his oyster. However, a significant fall from grace has diminished his career and his earnings of late.
Having spent 25 weeks at the summit of golf as World Number One in 2015, Spieth is now way down the rankings in 60. With the most recent of his three major wins coming eight years ago, it is clear that his career never reached the heights we all initially expected.
Still, at 32 years old, he still has plenty of time to prove us wrong. And if he can’t… well, being at number 10 on this list and having earned just under $100 million isn’t too bad, is it?
9. Sergio Garcia (Spain) – $96,105,483
He’s something of a surprise entry on this list, but Sergio Garcia’s move to the LIV Golf League has really helped his bank balance.
Obviously, we should respect the fact that the Spaniard won The Masters back in 2017. Indeed, there’s no doubting Garcia’s talent. But, with a reported $39 million of his earnings coming from LIV, it’s clear why he’s on this list.
He’s the Fireballs captain now and landed in the top 10 on the LIV Golf Tour this season. But, Garcia will always be remembered for his formidable success at the Ryder Cup; a tournament he has appeared at 11 times and in which he is the all-time record points holder.
8. Justin Thomas (USA) – $107,984,527
Justin Thomas has had a strange few years. Despite bursting onto the scene in 2017 and spending five weeks at world number one in 2018, he has failed to emulate this of late. He fell out of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) top 20 last year, but has managed to climb back up to 7th this season after showing signs of improvement.
Still, regardless of form, it is impossible to deny what the Kentucky native has achieved since turning professional at the age of 20 just over a decade ago, and he still finds himself in the top 10 for career earnings thanks largely to his two PGA Championship wins.
7. Xander Schauffele (USA) – $109,038,011
It’s been a few years since Xander Schauffele won Team USA’s first gold medal in golf since 1900 at the Tokyo Olympics, but since then, the California native has only gone from strength to strength. He’s now ranked number 3 in the OWGR and is one of the most consistently impressive players on the Tour.
After winning his first-ever major at the 2024 PGA Championship, Schauffele added to his tally shortly after with a win at The Open to cap a really strong year. He’s not been quite as prolific in 2025, but a win at the Baycurrent Classic helped increase his prize money totals.
6. Phil Mickelson (USA) – $116,700,685
Phil Mickelson, or ‘Lefty’ as he is affectionately known, is one of the standout personalities in the sport of golf. As the oldest player on this list, and with well over 50 professional wins, including six majors, it is clear how he earned his place on this list.
He’s also no stranger to controversy, with his highly publicized switch to LIV Golf almost threatening to tarnish his reputation. Despite this initial controversy, Mickelson has defended the break-away tour constantly since then. And when it’s earned him another $10 million, why not?
With his 2021 PGA Championship win cementing his place in the history books as golf’s oldest major winner at 54 years old, he likely has a good few years yet before he hangs up his clubs.
5. Dustin Johnson (USA) – $155,117,461
Given Dustin Johnson’s long spell at the peak of the sport, it is almost quite difficult to believe he has only won two major titles. Having spent over 130 weeks in total in the World Number One spot, the South Carolina native may look back on his career once he retires and think that he could and should have done more.
As one of the inaugural players to defect from the PGA Tour to LIV in 2022, a move which hasn’t been without its problems, Johnson has likely secured his place near the top of this list for years to come with over $57 million in earnings since joining. But, many will wonder if he has at least one more major in him before he calls time on his career.
4. Jon Rahm (Spain) – $161,936,893
Jon Rahm is one of golf’s more recent success stories. With a successful amateur career which saw him spend over 60 weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking, he went on to become the second-highest paid athlete across any sport in 2024.
With two major wins in the 2021 US Open and the 2023 Masters, he made headlines by joining LIV golf at the back-end of 2023 with a multi-year contract worth over $300 million. He’s already bagged over $73 million from LIV, so we expect Jon to rise even higher up this ranking in the years to come.
3. Tiger Woods (USA) – $179,444,957
Without Tiger Woods in the sport of golf, it is very likely that many of the players on this list would never have even lifted a club. Whilst he will likely never beat Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles, he will still go down in history as one of the greatest to ever do it. With 110 professional wins and 15 major titles, it is very much the case that golf would simply not be at its current level of popularity if it weren’t for Tiger.
Many regard the 48-year-old’s 2019 Master’s triumph as one of the greatest comeback stories of all time in any sport, and it didn’t hurt his bank balance, either. According to Spotrac data, Tiger has earned over $151 million on the Tour, with another $28 million in career earnings from majors alone.
2. Scottie Scheffler (USA) – $194,339,804
Scottie Scheffler has probably had the sharpest rise to stardom of any golfer in the last 20 years. Having only turned professional in 2018, he has since won 19 times on tour, including four majors; two Masters titles, the PGA Championship, and The Open. He’s also been world number one since March 2022 and shows no signs of giving up that crown.
Even when he occasionally struggles, you often see Scottie Scheffler bounce back the very next week to be back on top once again. Now, seven years on from his debut as a professional, every time you see Scottie entering a tournament, you expect him to be around the top of the leaderboard come Sunday, and that’s why he places so high on this list.
1. Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) – $207,429,600
Rory McIlroy has come a long way since he was filmed chipping balls into a washing machine on primetime TV at only 9 years old in 1999. Back then nobody would have known quite how great the young Northern Irishman would become. Now, nobody can deny that his rise changed the course of the sport and moved the needle for golf in a way that hadn’t been seen since a certain big cat prowled the fairways.
The sporting world rejoiced when Rory finally landed the iconic green jacket back in April to achieve the career grand slam at Augusta. McIlroy’s career earnings after The Masters also took a significant jump, and he’s had a brilliant 2025 in that regard, with three wins, one runner-up position, and eight top 10 finishes. No wonder he’s raked in over $200 million in prize money now.
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