It’s no secret the money pumped into professional golf has increased exponentially over the last few decades. It was on the rise even before the emergence of LIV Golf, which took things to absurd new heights and forced the PGA Tour to react.
The established American circuit’s response was to find more dollars in its coffers, give a boost to regular PGA Tour events and introduce a series of signature tournaments with even more money on offer.
This season, eight signature events took place before the FedExCup play-offs. Each one carried a total prize pool of $20 million, while the Players Championship handed out $25m to its competitors.
The FedEx St Jude Classic and the BMW Championship – the first two events of the play-offs – are on par with the eight signature events, and it’s yet to be announced how much will be on offer at the season-ending Tour Championship.
Remarkably, the total of all the PGA Tour’s 2024 prize pools (not including the seven-event FedExCup Fall series that takes place from September to November) is a staggering $551,400,000 (including the Tour Championship’s $100m bonus pot).
In 1994, the total prize pool was $57,200,000 and the most lucrative event was the Tour Championship, which had a total purse of $3,000,000.
So, the difference between the 1994 and 2024 PGA Tour prize pools is just a touch under $500,000,000 at $494,200,000. Thirty years ago, there were five more events as well. What a time to be a professional golfer.
Looking at the respective money lists is also very enlightening/jaw-dropping. According to the PGA Tour, the ‘tour average’ earnings in 2024 are $1,841,450 – and that’s before the BMW Championship and Tour Championship.
In 1994, the tour average was $172,000 – a terrific annual salary, but more than ten times fewer than 2024’s figure.
This year, Scottie Scheffler tops the pile, having amassed just under $30,000,000 to date. All of the top five have surpassed the $10,000,000 mark, while 72 golfers have earned more than $2m in 2024.
Zac Blair, 115th in the FedExCup standings, is the first player to have earned under $1,000,000 so far this year.
Journeying back 30 years presents quite a contrast. In 1994, Nick Price led the standings with $1,499,927 and only six golfers cracked the $1,000,000 mark.
Steve Stricker was 50th on the money list and he took home $334,409 for his efforts. Jake Knapp, 50th in the 2024 FedExCup standings, has earned more than $3,000,000.
When you consider that $1 in 1994 is worth $2.12 in 1994 as per the CPI inflation calculator, it really drills home just how absurd modern golfing prize pools are. They do seem to be going up at an unsustainably high rate – something R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers spoke about in his pre-Open Championship press conference. What the future holds is anyone’s guess.
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