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Right place, right time is a mantra that covers most any top-level professional golfer playing on the PGA Tour these days. In the wake of the schism in pro golf, and the overriding way in which it has been addressed—by throwing money at the problem—pro golfers have become the beneficiaries of bloated purses and seven-figure first-place (and sometimes second-place) prize money payouts.
Among them is Rory McIlroy, who with his victory on Monday morning at TPC Sawgrass, claimed the $4.5 million first-place prize money payout, which jumped his career earnings to $99,709,062. That allowed him to pass Phil Mickelson ($96,685,635) into second place on the PGA Tour’s all-time money list.
Take a peek at the pacing of McIlroy’s wealth, and you can see that it grows exponentially in recent years, as LIV Golf emerges, the PGA Tour creates signature events worth $20 million and comparisons to generations gone by become impossible to make and unrealistic to even explore.
The numbers above show that McIlroy has made more than $57 million 57 percent of his career earnings in the last seven years of his 17-year career.
This leaves McIlroy only one or two paydays away from the $100 million club, which is occupied by one lone golfer: Tiger Woods. Woods’ career earnings top out at $120,999,166. Based on McIlroy’s pacing the last few years, it’s likely to take around about three seasons to accomplish, unless he has a historic year like Scottie Scheffler, where seven wins, most in signature events, earned him $29 million in a single season (after winning $21 million in 2023).
Main Image: Richard Heathcote
