A record number of tour pros will earn $1 million in 2023 There’s no getting around money in men’s professional golf.
The launch of LIV Golf and its $20 million in tournament prize money impacted PGA Tour purses, exploding the amount earned by the top players in a given year.
Meanwhile, it also affected the linebackers as the proverbial lifted all boats. At LIV Golf, Talor Gooch finished the 2023 season with three wins from 13 starts for individual earnings of $35.3 million, including an $18 million bonus for the circuit’s top points winners.
What makes that number so remarkable is when you consider that the 32-year-old Gooch has earned $9.25 million in his PGA Tour career … in 123 starts. Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, set the all-time PGA Tour record for prize money earned, earning $21,014,342 in tournament paydays playing in 23 events.
That broke the tour’s previous single-season record, set by Scheffler a year ago with $14.04 million. (And it broke Jordan Spieth’s record of $12.03 million in 2015.) Launching more than half a dozen “title” events with $20 million in purses in 2023 helps explain Scheffler’s metric rise. Meanwhile, we don’t even count the FedEx Cup bonus money distributed.
Viktor Hovland paid $32.1 million when his own course earnings are added to his $18 million win during the Tour Championship in August. (Next year, the FedEx Cup champion will receive a $25 million bonus.)
