30 Pro Golfers Who Make the Most Money

There’s plenty of money to be made in golf, and these 30 pro golfers have done it better than anyone else.

30 Pro Golfers Who Make the Most Money

Have you ever wondered how much money golfers make compared to other athletes? They play an individual sport in which earnings are directly tied to performance. Thus, the more you win, the more you make, and the bigger the tournament, the bigger the prize. Golfers can cash in on five-figure paychecks simply for making the cut at just about any PGA Tour event, while prizes over $2 million are available for the winners of big events. For instance, the U.S. Open winner’s share is $2.25 million.

While that’s certainly a lot of prize money, the golfer with the most career earnings wouldn’t even rank among the top 100 most paid NBA players. He would rank 97th in MLB history and 27th in the NFL. For a more suitable comparison with an individual sport, the PGA all-time money leader would rank fourth out of all men’s and women’s tennis players.

But it’s not just the top breadwinner who’s cashed in, as 533 golfers in PGA Tour history have made at least $1 million in their careers. So maybe instead of getting your kid a new helmet or pair of basketball shoes, you could supply them with a set of irons or a putter? There’s still plenty of money to be made in golf, and these 30 pro golfers have done it better than anyone else.

30. Paul Casey

Career: 23 years (2000-present)

Career earnings: $36,584,416

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 3

*Note: All figures are courtesy of PGATour.com and updated as of July 1, 2022.

Bottom Line: Paul Casey

Englishman Paul Casey has fared much better on the European Tour with 15 wins compared to just three on the PGA Tour. Even though he hasn’t had many victories, Casey has had many close calls at majors, which helped him rack up lots of earnings.

He’s had back-to-back, top-five finishes at the PGA Championship and has a total of 11 top 10s at major tournaments. Two of Casey’s three PGA wins came at the Valspar Championship, and those victories earned him $1.17 million in 2018 and $1.2 million in 2019.

29. Patrick Reed

Career: 12 years (2011-present)

Career earnings: $37,030,106

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 9

Bottom Line: Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed is not the most popular golfer on tour — he’s been involved in numerous controversies and even been accused of cheating — but Reed is also one of the most clutch athletes around. That was apparent when he won the 2018 Masters by one stroke, and it’s also been apparent whenever he’s represented the U.S. in international competitions.

Through his stellar play at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, Reed has earned the nickname of Captain America. There isn’t much money to be made at those competitions, but bragging rights are sometimes just as important.

28. Kevin Na

Career: 21 years (2001-present)

Career earnings: $37,912,338

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 5

Bottom Line: Kevin Na

Na had an early start to his pro career, as he left high school after his junior year to play professionally at just 17 years old. At 20, he earned his PGA Tour card, but he didn’t get his first tour victory until 28 years old.

While he’s had a couple of top 10s in majors, Na is best known for playing the worst ever par-4 in PGA Tour history. At the 2011 Valero Texas Open, Na hit balls into the woods, whiffed on strokes, tried a couple of shots left-handed and even ricocheted a ball off his inner thigh on the way to shooting a 16. After the round, Na said, “I got done with the hole, and I said [to my caddie], 'I think I made somewhere between a 10 and a 15. But I think it's close to a 15."

It was actually a 16.

27. Rory Sabbatini

Career: 25 years (1998-present)

Career earnings: $35,193,189

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 6

Bottom Line: Rory Sabbatini

The globetrotting Sabbatini has played and lived all over the world. He was born in South Africa, holds a U.K. passport, is a United States citizen but now identifies as Slovakian. All of his PGA Tour wins came when he identified as a South African, and Sabbatini’s closest brush with a major came when he finished runner-up to Zach Johnson at the 2007 Masters.

But getting back to his citizenship change — Slovakia is the home country of his wife, and Sabbatini maintains that’s the reason he swapped from South African. Skeptics point out that identifying as Slovakian gives Sabbatini a greater chance to make an Olympic golf team than as South African (because there are so many more South African golfers out there), but Sabbatini is sticking to his wife as the reason for the switch.

26. Brooks Koepka

Career: 11 years (2012-present)

Career earnings: $337,989,632

Majors championships won: 4

PGA tournaments won: 8

Bottom Line: Brooks Koepka

If an updated version of this article comes out in, say, 2025, then Koepka could very well be in the top five by then. He had a Tiger Woods-like run from 2017-2019 when he won four majors and finished runner up two more times.

However, he’s also had a Tiger Woods-like string of injuries for someone still so young. He’s had multiple surgeries and injuries to his wrist, knee and hip, which caused him to miss a couple of majors, hurting his earning potential. But a healthy Koepka is tough to beat, which is why many consider him the best player of his era.

25. Luke Donald

Career: 22 years (2001-present)

Career earnings: $37,168,916

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 5

Bottom Line: Luke Donald

It may surprise some people to learn that Luke Donald has spent more weeks as the No. 1 ranked golfer than all but six other men. The six golfers ahead of him have combined for 34 majors, but Donald is still searching for his first. His single biggest payday came at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship when Donald won the event along with $1.4 million.

But the tournament in which Donald has accumulated the most earnings is the RBC Heritage in South Carolina. He’s played that event 17 times over his career, and even though he’s never won it, Donald has made over $3.8 million from the tournament.

24. Brandt Snedeker

Career: 19 years (2004-present)

Career earnings: $41,070,902

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 9

Bottom Line: Brandt Snedeker

The PGA Tour Rookie of Year in 2007, Snedeker really found his groove from 2012-13. Over those two years, he made a combined $10 million, won four tournaments and had his best ever finish at a major, tying for third at the 2012 British Open. He also ranked among the top five on the PGA Tour money list in both seasons.

Snedeker never reached the heights that many expected, as he’s still searching for his first major, but he’s produced a solid pro career. And besides, could someone named “Brandt Snedeker” do anything other than be a golfer?

23. Rickie Fowler

Career: 14 years (2009-present)

Career earnings: $40,977,786

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 5

Bottom Line: Rickie Fowler

Fowler is one of the few golfers on this list whose income outside of golf dwarfs what he’s made on the links. He is Mr. Puma and is featured in numerous commercials, despite never winning a major championship. Fowler has surpassed $10 million in annual endorsements a couple of times in his career, while $6 million is the most he’s made in a single season while playing golf.

However, he needs to at least be an above average golfer to maintain all of those endorsement opportunities, and that has not been the case recently. Fowler has just one top-10 finish at a tournament over the last 1.5 years, as his world ranking dropped outside the top 100.

22. Charles Howell III

Career: 22 years (2000-present)

Career earnings: $41,886,416

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 3

Bottom Line: Charles Howell III

Remember in “Happy Gilmore” when Adam Sandler’s character found out he could make a boatload of money without even actually winning golf tournaments? Well, we’re not saying Charles Howell III is the real-life Happy Gilmore, but we are saying Charles Howell III has won a boatload of money without winning a boatload of golf tournaments.

Nicknamed Chucky Three Sticks, Howell III has played nearly 600 tournaments and won … three of them. That’s not a great ratio, but he won’t complain about making over $41 million from playing golf.

21. Stewart Cink

Career: 28 years (1995-present)

Career earnings: $42,834,368

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 8

Bottom Line: Stewart Cink

Cink won the 2009 British Open and then faded into oblivion for over a decade. He was still an active tour member, but he didn’t win another golf tournament for 11 years before a renaissance during the PGA Tour 2020-21 season. At 47 years old, Cink is one of a handful of golfers with multiple wins during this tour, and he pocketed nearly $2.5 million from those two victories alone.

Basically, he’s showing that Phil Mickelson isn’t the only middle-aged golfer who can still get it done.

20. David Toms

David Toms hits from the sand onto 8th green

Career: 34 years (1989-present)

Career earnings: $48,581,282

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 13

Bottom Line: David Toms

Records are made to be broken, and Toms had a pretty cool record that stood for 15 years. At the 2001 PGA Championship, he claimed his only major with a winning score of 265. That was the lowest score ever recorded at a major championship, as he finished 15-under-par. That record stood until Henrik Stenson shot 264 at the 2016 British Open.

But Toms’ PGA Championship win was one of three victories for him that season. He earned over $3.7 million in earnings in 2001, which was one of five years he made more than $3 million.

19. Webb Simpson

Career: 15 years (2008-present)

Career earnings: $44,370,203

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 7

Bottom Line: Webb Simpson

James Frederick Webb Simpson turned pro in 2008, and just three years later, he finished second on the PGA Tour money list. He’d win his only major a year later at the 2012 U.S. Open, but it seems as though he peaked during this stretch. Simpson hasn’t posted a top-five finish at a major since then, and while he’s had some nice years, he hasn’t reached that next threshold that many predicted would happen.

But, of course, finishing in the top five isn’t a prerequisite for cashing in, as Simpson finished tied for 30th at the 2021 PGA Championship and still walked away with nearly $60,000, which is more than the average annual salary in the United States.

18. Justin Thomas

Justin Thomas watches his shot on the ninth tee

Career: 10 years (2013-present)

Career earnings: $51,064,421

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 14

Bottom Line: Justin Thomas

One of the young stars in golf today, Thomas has owned the PGA Tour money list in recent years. In three out of the last four seasons, Thomas has earned the most money on tour, and he’s neck-and-neck with Bryson DeChambeau for the top spot in the 2020-21 season. In essentially one-third of all his tournaments, Thomas finishes in the top 10, which certainly helps him win those big checks.

His single biggest paycheck came not at a major but at the 2021 Players Championship. That tournament offers the highest prize fund of any golf tournament and even more than any of the four majors. Thomas won that tournament by one stroke, which earned him a whopping $2.7 million. Not bad for a long weekend’s work.

17. Steve Stricker

Steve Stricker lines up for his putt on fifth hole

Career: 33 years (1990-present)

Career earnings: $51,147,567

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 12

Bottom Line: Steve Stricker

Stricker holds an honor that almost seems impossible at first glance: He was named the PGA Tour’s Comeback Player of the Year … in back-to-back years! He lost his tour card in 2004 and, relying on sponsor exemptions, had seven top-10 finishes in the 2005-06 season. That earned him his first Comeback Player of the Year award.

The next season, he ended an 11-year drought without a PGA Tour Title, made the Presidents Cup team and finished runner-up to Tiger Woods in the 2007 FedEx Cup Playoffs. That earned him his second Comeback award in as many years, and he remains the only two-time winner.

16. Davis Love III

Career: 38 years (1985-present)

Career earnings: $45,772,860

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 21

Bottom Line: Davis Love III

With wins in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, Love III is one of four golfers with PGA victories in four different decades. His most successful decade was the ’90s when he won 12 times, including the 1997 PGA Championship. Love III had 10 finishes among the top 10 of yearly earnings between 1991 and 2004, with a second-place finish in 1992 being the high-water mark.

Love III is the son of Davis Love Jr., who was also a pro golfer who won four tournaments in the 1960s and ’70s. The elder Love was killed in 1988 when the private plane he was flying in crashed while navigating through some fog.

15. Jordan Spieth

Career: 11 years (2012-present)

Career earnings: $52,147,768

Majors championships won: 3

PGA tournaments won: 12

Bottom Line: Jordan Spieth

Spieth was getting many Tiger Woods comparisons after he won the 2015 Masters at 21 years old. He then added two more majors over the next two years, and no one earned more money than his $27 million from 2015-17. But then the wheels fell off, and Spieth didn’t win another tournament, let alone a major, from 2018-20.

He dropped to 78th on the money list in 2020, but 2021 has been promising, as Spieth won his first tournament in four years. He also had his fifth top-three finish at the Masters and appears to have regained his once-promising form.

14. Zach Johnson

Career: 25 years (1998-present)

Career earnings: $48,204,151

Majors championships won: 2

PGA tournaments won: 12

Bottom Line: Zach Johnson

Never the flashiest of golfers, Johnson had a nice 15-year run from 2004-18 when he won at least $1 million each year on tour. All 12 of his PGA tournament wins also came during this stretch, and he’s halfway to the career Grand Slam with wins at the Masters and the British Open.

As he aged, Johnson fell off a bit during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, as he failed to win $1 million in either season. But he bounced back to that million-dollar threshold again during the 2020-21 season thanks to three top-10 finishes, his most since 2017.

13. Bubba Watson

Career: 21 years (2002-present)

Career earnings: $48,476,486

Majors championships won: 2

PGA tournaments won: 12

Bottom Line: Bubba Watson

The ninth golfer to win two green jackets in the span of three years, Watson won the 2012 and 2014 Masters Tournaments. With his 6-foot-3 frame and southpaw swing, Watson is one of the greatest drivers in golf history. He’s led the PGA Tour in driving distance five times and finished runner-up another four times.

The only tournaments that Watson has won more than the Masters are the Genesis Open and the Travelers Championships, which he’s won three times each. His total winnings from those two tournaments is nearly $9 million, or nearly 20 percent of his career earnings.

12. Jason Day

Career: 17 years (2006-present)

Career earnings: $50,278,553

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 12

Bottom Line: Jason Day

Australian Jason Day had a magical 2015 season in which he won five times, including the PGA Championship. Day finished with a score of 20-under-par, which set a record for the lowest score ever recorded in a major.

He would earn over $9.4 million during that season and another $8 million the following season, as he won three times. Those two years account for nearly 36 percent of Day’s career winnings as well as eight of his 12 PGA Tour victories.

11. Ernie Els

South Africa's Ernie Els plays from rough

Career: 34 years (1989-present)

Career earnings: $52,675,960

Majors championships won: 4

PGA tournaments won: 19

Bottom Line: Ernie Els

South African Ernie Els was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, but that certainly wasn’t the ending of his career. In fact, he turned back the clock and won the British Open one year later.

He is one of six golfers to win the British Open and U.S. Open twice each, and Els’ career earnings don’t take into account his work on the European Tour. He won another 28 tournaments on that tour as well as another $35 million. Additionally, he’s already making waves on the Champions Tour, as he joined that in 2020 and placed in the top five in his first two major appearances.

10. Matt Kuchar

Career: 23 years (2000-present)

Career earnings: $55,162,175

Majors championships won: 0

PGA tournaments won: 9

Bottom Line: Matt Kuchar

No golfer in PGA Tour history has earned more money than Matt Kuchar without winning a major championship. He’s really only come close a couple of times with one runner-up and one third-place finish at majors.

But he’s won several big-money tournaments including the Players Championship — which has golf’s biggest purse — as well as a WGC event and the Memorial Tournament. Kuchar’s highest earning season came after he turned 40 years old when, in the 2019 season, he finished third on the money list and racked up nearly $6.3 million in winnings.

9. Sergio Garcia

Sergio Garcia tees off on the sixth hole

Career: 24 years (1999-present)

Career earnings: $54,400,870

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 11

Bottom Line: Sergio Garcia

Garcia has been a fixture in golf for over two decades, but he also has ties to several other sports. He dated former tennis star Martina Hingis and later played in a semi-pro doubles tournament alongside pro Amer Delic.

Garcia, who was born and raised in Spain, was also the president and chairman of a pro soccer team in his home country, and he even played with them in the Tercera Division, which is in the fourth-tier of Spanish football. Additionally, he is married to a Golf Channel reporter, his father-in-law was the starting quarterback at Texas, and his brother-in-law played for Spain’s National Soccer Team.

8. Justin Rose

Career: 25 years (1998-present)

Career earnings: $57,150,336

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 10

Bottom Line: Justin Rose

What’s not included in Rose’s career earnings or PGA tournaments won is his gold medal at the 2016 Olympics. That Games took place in Brazil, which made Rose one of five golfers to win tournaments on all six continents in which golf is played. The biggest one he won in North America was the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. That pocketed Rose $1.4 million, and he has nine other top-10 finishes at majors.

But the single biggest prize that the South African-born, English-raised Rose won was the 2018 FedEx Cup Playoffs. Rose ranked fourth cumulatively after the four tournaments, which comprised the playoffs, and as a result, he won the $10 million grand prize.

7. Adam Scott

Adam Scott watches after hitting tee shot

Career: 23 years (2000-present)

Career earnings: $58,629,960

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 14

Bottom Line: Adam Scott

The Big Queenslander infamously won the 2013 Masters using the now-banned long putter, which drew some controversy. Just months after the win, the USGA announced it was banning the long putter and, coincidentally or not, Scott hasn’t won a major since.

But he has won 14 times on the PGA Tour, 11 times on the European Tour, six times on the PGA Tour of Australasia, four times on the Asian Tour and four times on other tours. His best days appear to be behind him, but they can never take away that green jacket from him, even though they took away his long putter.

6. Rory McIlroy

Career: 16 years (2007-present)

Career earnings: $64,821,549

Majors championships won: 4

PGA tournaments won: 19

Bottom Line: Rory McIlroy

McIlroy is the highest-earning European player and is the youngest member of the top 10 by a good five years. He’s a green jacket away from winning the career Grand Slam and has twice been the PGA Tour money leader.

But after winning four majors by 25 — joining Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to do so — McIlroy hasn’t won once since then, and he’s now 32. He did, however, win the 2019 Players Championship, and that $2.25 million winner’s share was larger than any prize McIlroy won at a major.

5. Vijay Singh

Career: 41 years (1982-present)

Career earnings: $76,522,192

Majors championships won: 3

PGA tournaments won: 34

Bottom Line: Vijay Singh

Singh turned pro before nearly half of the golfers on this list were born, as he celebrated his 40th year as a pro in 2021. His peak was from 1998-2006 when he placed in the top 10 in 17 of 31 major tournaments, winning the PGA Championship twice (1998, 2004) and the 2000 Masters.

His 34 PGA Tour wins ranks 14th all time and is the most by any non-American golfer. Now approaching 60 years old, Singh mainly plays the Champions Tour these days and won his first major on that tour at the 2018 Senior Players Championship.

4. Jim Furyk

Career: 31 years (1992-present)

Career earnings: $74,874,398

Majors championships won: 1

PGA tournaments won: 17

Bottom Line: Jim Furyk

Furyk is a surprising name to appear as the fourth highest-earning golfer of all time, but when you look at just how many golf events he took part in, it makes sense. Furyk has played nearly 650 PGA tournaments, which is almost 300 more than the golfer in the No. 1 spot on this list.

He’s made his money via quantity more so than quality, with just one major championship in his career. Twice Furyk has appeared in the top five on the money list (1997: fourth, 2014: third) without even winning a tournament that year. Furyk is known as a grinder on the PGA Tour for his workmanlike approach, and he’s grinded his way to over $71 million.

3. Dustin Johnson

Career: 16 years (2007-present)

Career earnings: $74,427,559

Majors championships won: 2

PGA tournaments won: 24

Bottom Line: Dustin Johnson

With over 130 weeks as the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, only Tiger Woods (683) and Greg Norman (331) have held that top spot more often than Johnson. DJ has won at least $4 million on tour in each of the last eight years, and he’s been among the top seven money winners in each of those years.

While he has two majors, he could have so many more, as he’s finished runner-up five times, including at least once at every major. Johnson has already far surpassed his father-in-law, Wayne Gretzky, as The Great One earned around $45 million during his NHL career.

2. Phil Mickelson

Career: 31 years (1992-present)

Career earnings: $96,470,603

Majors championships won: 6

PGA tournaments won: 45

Bottom Line: Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson holds the Wanamaker Trophy

How important was Mickelson’s historic win at the 2021 PGA Championship? It netted Lefty $2.1 million and was the first winning purse of his career over $2 million. It also increased Mickelson’s 2021 earnings to over $2.5 million, which already marks his third most earnings in a single season over the last eight years.

But it’s fitting that Mickelson lands at second on this list, as not once during his 30-plus year career has he landed at the No. 1 spot on the annual earnings list. He’s finished runner-up five times, and being in second place is a microcosm of Mickelson’s career when compared to…

1. Tiger Woods

Career: 27 years (1996-present)

Career earnings: $120,895,206

Majors championships won: 15

PGA tournaments won: 82

Bottom Line: Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods celebrates after winning Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament

Were you expecting anyone else? Think about this: If you split Tiger Woods’ career up by decade, then his earnings in both his 20s and his 30s would make the top 10 of this list! He’s been the top money winner on tour for 10 years and has topped $10 million three different years.

Woods’ first paycheck from the PGA Tour came at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open when the 20-year-old tied for 60th and won $2,544. His single biggest paycheck came at his storybook 2019 Masters when Woods' fifth green jacket also netted him $2.07 million. While he’s best known for his 15 major wins, the tournament that has paid Woods the most is the WGC Invitational. Woods has won the Memphis event eight times in 16 appearances and collected over $11 million alone from that event.

Woods’ unparalleled success not only gives him the most earnings but also the most earnings per event played. He’s competed in 368 tournaments in his career, which ranks just 16th on this list. He’s earned an average of $328,401 per event played, while no other golfer with more than 15 years of experience has earned more than $164,105 per event.