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The PGA Tour did quite well in 2022. For all the talk about how much money is involved in LIV Golf (and it is a very high sum, to be truthful), the Tour saw a record number of players earn $1 million or more during the season.
LIV Golf's emergence has forced golf fans and those in and around the sport to take a hard look at the money being put into the game. LIV clearly had no issue funneling many millions of dollars to players to join their league and paying them handsomely upon winning.
For example, Dustin Johnson defected and earned an astonishing $35.6 million from eight starts. The bonus he earned for being the season's top point-getter was staggering as well, at $18 million.
Among those who played seven starts or more, the lowest earner took home over $1 million. That was Shaun Norris.
Financial stability was a big factor in a lot of golfers defecting, but the PGA Tour did better than it ever has this year, and the expectation is that that will only continue as prize purses get bigger.
How much did PGA Tour golfers earn this season?
This year, 126 golfers made over $1 million during the season, bookended by Nick Watney, who took home the lowest total ($1,012,572) of the million-dollar earning club.
Scottie Scheffler was the most financially rewarded golfer on the Tour this season. He earned $14.04 million in his starts (25 of them) and another $5.75 million from FedEx Playoffs Cup bonuses.
Shockingly, Cameron Smith, who defected to LIV Golf, was among the top earners. He earned $10.1 million before defecting, where he added another $7.3 million.
Will Zalatoris took home $9.4 million. Patrick Cantlay narrowly trailed him with $9.3 million of his own.
Rory McIlroy earned $8.6 million. He also took home a staggering $18 million for winning the PGA Tour Championship.
The money overall was great, not just at the top. Of the 247 men listed in last season's money list, the average sum was $1,621,221.
They still have a long way to go to catch up to the incredible prize purses that LIV Golf events offer, but they're clearly well on their way to being much more financially stable.
With that advantage slimmer for LIV, they may be forced to try other things to continue poaching top golfers away from the Tour. Thus far, money has been the biggest reason they've been so successful.
