Scottie Scheffler has won seven tournaments since May, held the Official World Golf Ranking’s top spot for 150 consecutive weeks and earned an estimated $81 million over the past 12 months. Yet even with that level of dominance, the 29-year-old finds himself looking up at two of his rivals when it comes to the financial scorecard.
This year, Scheffler ranks No. 3 among the world’s highest-paid golfers, trailing Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. Rahm returns to the top spot yet again in another year that saw him cross the nine-figure mark, with estimated total earnings of $102 million. He owes a sizable chunk of that haul to his contract with LIV Golf, which reportedly guaranteed him $300 million to join the upstart tour and is believed to have paid him half of that sum up front with the remainder being doled out in equal annual payments throughout the life of the deal.
McIlroy landed in second by collecting an estimated $84 million, with $55 million coming off the course. His profile has only grown since winning the 2025 Masters and completing a career golf Grand Slam. He now ranks as the sport’s best pitchman, unseating Tiger Woods, who ranked fifth overall with estimated earnings of $54.2 million, 99% of which came from his endorsements and business endeavors.
In total, the world’s 10 highest-paid golfers pulled in a collective $558 million over the past 12 months before taxes and agents’ fees, a 9% decline from the $611 million earned in calendar-year 2024. That largely has to do with the apparent end of LIV Golf’s spending spree, with Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton being the last marquee acquisitions for the Saudi-backed tour ahead of the 2024 season. In addition to Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau (No. 4, $65 million) and Joaquin Niemann (No. 7, $41 million) were the only other LIV Golfers to rank among the top 10.
The PGA Tour also reshuffled its bonus structure, doing away with the $50 million Player Impact Program following the 2024 season in favor of the Player Equity Program, an initiative that has since granted more than $1 billion worth of stakes in the tour’s for-profit commercial entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, to qualifying members. (Only cash, not equity, is counted among the highest-paid golfer’s compensation.)
But that’s not to say pro golfers’ opportunities for on-course earnings are decreasing. For 2026, LIV Golf raised its total pot from $405 million to $470 million, according to a person with knowledge of the amounts.
And while the PGA Tour is offering a 1% lower cumulative total of prize money for this FedExCup season at $441.5 million, the figure is up by 5% on a per-event basis with the schedule narrowing from 35 tournaments to 33. Factoring in the four majors, the Tour’s fall schedule of events and nearly $100 million in available bonuses, PGA Tour players will compete for almost $700 million in 2026.
The TGL, the indoor golf league cofounded Woods, McIlroy and media executive Mike McCarley, which recently completed its second season, also awarded $21 million in prize money this year.
The influx of cash into the sport has left some in the industry wondering whether the current golf landscape is sustainable. That has yet to diminishing ambitions on either side of the sport’s civil war.
Despite telling The Financial Times it would “take another five to 10 years” for LIV Golf to “become profitable” in February, CEO Scott O’Neil, who joined after the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia had already sunk billions of dollars into the property, has touted the league’s reimagined outlook. In an interview with Sports Business Journal, he said his goals for 2026 were to have 10 profitable teams, four profitable events and two limited partner sales into LIV Golf franchises.
However, the upstart is also contending with an exodus of talent, losing stars like Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and, potentially, DeChambeau, if he doesn’t sign a new contract after the 2026 season.
Meanwhile, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp also laid out a reimagined vision for his outfit in March, with elements like a streamlined season structure, more consistent 120-man fields with 36-hole cuts, a return to major cities like New York, Chicago and Boston and a promotion and relegation structure among the potential changes.
For now, the PGA Tour maintains an edge among the 10 highest-paid golfers, with seven players to LIV Golf’s three on the list. Tommy Fleetwood (No. 6, $42 million), Hideki Matsuyama (No. 8, $32 million), Xander Schauffele (No. 9, $30 million) and Collin Morikawa (No. 10, $28 million) rounded out the ranking. Prize money and bonuses accounted for roughly 55% of the total earnings.
The World’s Highest-Paid Golfers 2026
1. Jon Rahm: $102 million
On-Course: $92 million | Off-Course: $10 million | Age: 31 | Tour: LIV | Nationality: Spain
Rahm didn’t win a single LIV event in 2025, but his ability to hang around the top of the leaderboard netted him enough points to claim the Saudi-backed tour’s season-long individual title. That landed the Spaniard an $18 million prize for the second consecutive year, having won the same accolade in 2024, and Rahm currently tops LIV’s all-time earnings list with more than $87 million on the course, according to contract database Spotrac, excluding his guaranteed payments to join the tour.
2. Rory McIlroy: $84 million
On-Course: $29 million | Off-Course: $55 million | Age: 36 | Tour: PGA | Nationality: Northern Ireland
After a crushing runner-up finish at the 2022 Masters, McIlroy claimed his first green jacket last year by defeating Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff. With the fourth-best odds entering this year’s tournament, according to DraftKings, McIlroy has the chance to become the first player to win back-to-back Masters since Tiger Woods did so in 2001 and 2002. Off the course, he participated in Whoop’s recent Series G funding raise that valued the company at $10.1 billion. McIlroy first invested in the wearable business in 2019 at a roughly $240 million valuation.
3. Scottie Scheffler: $81 million
On-Course: $51 million | Off-Course: $30 million | Age: 29 | Tour: PGA | Nationality: U.S.
Scheffler continued his run of dominance in 2025, with six wins that included the PGA Championship and the British Open. The world’s No. 1 golfer and four-time major champion now only has the U.S. Open left to complete a career Grand Slam, something only six other players, including McIlroy and Woods, have achieved. In November, Scheffler brought on portable speaker manufacturer Turtlebox to a portfolio of brand partners that includes Nike, TaylorMade and Huntington Bank. He made another key addition four months later, welcoming his second son, Remy, in March.
4. Bryson DeChambeau: $65 million
On-Course: $45 million | Off-Course: $20 million | Age: 32 | Tour: LIV | Nationality: U.S.
DeChambeau has had a productive start to 2026, winning back-to-back LIV tournaments in March. But his future with the upstart tour remains cloudy. DeChambeau’s contract, which he signed in 2022 and reportedly netted him a $125 million guarantee, expires after this season. Multiple industry insiders suggested he could be looking at a total payday between $200 million and $500 million. His popularity is evident in his YouTube channel alone, which has more than 2.6 million subscribers and has generated more than 550 million views.
5. Tiger Woods: $54.2 million
On-Course: $0.2 million | Off-Course: $54 million | Age: 50 | Tour: PGA | Nationality: U.S.
Woods snapped a near-two-year absence from golf last month when he joined the Jupiter Links Golf Club in the second match of the TGL Finals, which his team lost and received a consolation prize of $4.5 million. But his return to the sport didn’t last long. Woods announced he was stepping away again to focus on his health and seek treatment after he was involved in a car accident late last month. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, a charge he pleaded not guilty to a few days later.
6. Tommy Fleetwood: $42 million
On-Course: $30 million | Off-Course: $12 million | Age: 35 | Tour: PGA | Nationality: England
Fleetwood posted the best financial year of his career in 2025, earning more than $18 million in official prize money on the PGA Tour, excluding bonuses. That was punctuated by the biggest win of his career at the Tour Championship in August, which netted him a $10 million payday. Despite never winning a major, the 35-year-old Englishman is cashing in on his recent success. In March, Fleetwood added alternative investment manager Blackstone as his front-of-hat sponsor, making him the company’s first golf ambassador.
7. Joaquin Niemann: $41 million
On-Course: $38 million | Off-Course: $3 million | Age: 27 | Tour: LIV | Nationality: Chile
Even though Niemann won five LIV Golf events in 2025, he still trailed Rahm by less than three points in the race for the tour’s individual title, which ended up costing him about $10 million in bonuses. LIV’s all-time wins leader is off to a considerably slower start this season: In five tournaments, Niemann has placed no higher than fourth. The 27-year-old Chilean won’t be at the Masters in 2026, either, since he didn’t receive a special invitation to compete in Augusta. Off the course, his brand partners include Ping, Rolex and Mercedes-Benz.
8. Hideki Matsuyama: $31 million
On-Course: $6 million | Off-Course: $25 million | Age: 34 | Tour: PGA | Nationality: Japan
Aside from victories at The Sentry and the Hero World Challenge in 2025 and a painfully close playoff loss at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February, Matsuyama has struggled to climb the leaderboard over the past two seasons. In 32 PGA Tour events and major tournaments since the start of 2025, he’s finished inside the top 10 just four times and currently ranks 14th in the world. Still, the Japanese star is incredibly popular back home, with a robust endorsement portfolio that includes corporations like NTT Data, Tokyo Electron and Nomura Holdings.
9. Xander Schauffele: $30 million
On-Course: $8 million | Off-Course: $22 million | Age: 32 | Tour: PGA | Nationality: U.S.
Schauffele had an inauspicious start to the 2026 season, missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, but he’s started to pick up steam. In March, Schauffele placed third at The Players Championship and tied for fourth at the Valspar Championship. Off the course, the two-time major winner works with Callaway, Descente and Blue Owl Capital and, in July, he participated in a $1.6 million funding round for smart apparel company Theo Health.
10. Collin Morikawa: $28 million
On-Course: $9 million | Off-Course: $19 million | Age: 29 | Tour: PGA | Nationality: U.S.
Morikawa is a 35-1 longshot to win the 2026 Masters, according to FanDuel, but a recent injury may prevent him from competing for his first green jacket. The two-time major champion pulled out of the Valero Texas Open before the tournament started last week, citing a back injury that dates to the Players Championship in March. Morikawa, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year, remains incredibly popular with sponsors. He works with Adidas, KPMG, Kowa and 10 other partners.
Methodology
Sportico’s 2026 list of the world’s highest-paid golfers tracks earnings over the past 12 months, dating to the 2025 Masters. All figures are rounded to the nearest $1 million, with Woods being the lone exception since he earned less than seven figures on the course.
On-course earnings include prize money and bonuses, as well as annual payments some players received from LIV Golf. Off course-earnings are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearances fees and memorabilia and licensing income over the past 12 months, plus cash returns from any business in which the athlete has a significant interest.
Sportico does not count investment income, such as interest payments or dividends, but does include payouts from equity stakes athletes have sold. Taxes and agents’ fees are not deducted.
