Ranking of Top-Earning Golfers in 2025
The jazz of the green has dimmed a bit. Over the past year, no golfer has strutted their stuff quite like Scottie Scheffler. With his $67 million in on-course earnings and an additional $30 million off the course, he's stacked up a monstrous $97 million since last summer's U.S. Open. He's the dominant force, but there's one title still out of reach: the world's highest-paid golfer.
That hatched-on title stays with Jon Rahm this year, too, raking in an estimated $102 million before taxes and agent fees. Rahm, a Spaniard, hasn't outperformed Scheffler on the course, with just two LIV wins across the past year, but switching tours has been a lucrative move. Rahm's haul includes a whopping $50 million yearly payment from LIV, part of the $300 million guaranteed deal LIV splashed him to defect from the PGA Tour 1.
But Rahm's off-course earnings have taken a hit, plummeting from the $25 million annual sponsorship deals of yore. Now he's cashing out less than half that amount from brands like Callaway, Rolex, and Santander Bank 1.
So which tour sweeps the money pile? The PGA Tour grabs the mic for six spots; LIV grabs it for four—the first time LIV holds less than half since its entrance three years ago 4.
But LIV's spending frenzy seems to be cooling off, as no new big-name acquisitions have joined the fold since Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton signed on for the upcoming 2024 season. Those slower putts have translated into an estimated $612 million in combined earnings, a 10% dip from the previous year's $678 million and a 19% drop from 2023's record $752 million 2.
The PGA Tour's got its eye on the purse strings, too. It's handing out a record $366.9 million in prize money for the 2025 season, a miniscule 1% increase over the previous year and a modest 11% leap compared to the 2021-22 season's $330.3 million. But don't let those small numbers fool you. When you crunch them down to a per-event basis, the bump is a beefy 39%. With the calendar trimming to 32 regular-season tournaments from 40, there's suddenly more green on the table 2.
Tack on the four majors, the FedEx Cup playoffs, and the Comcast Business Tour Top 10, a bonus pool for regular-season performance, and golfers are gearing up to battle it out for almost $700 million this year (even with a drop from the $728 million total of 2024). The discrepancy stems from the PGA Tour nixing the $50 million Player Impact Program and launching the Player Equity Program. In 2025, qualifying members will be handsomely rewarded with shares worth a combined $930 million in the tour's for-profit commercial entity, PGA Tour Enterprises 2.
Other tables are graced with bonus paydays, too, like the newly launched indoor TGL—the brainchild of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and media maven Mike McCarley. In its debut season, TGL dished out $21 million in prize money, and many signings are believed to have scored seven-figure side deals 2.
The shifting prize pools have reshuffled the top 10, with the PGA Tour ruling supreme and LIV playing a smaller part 4.
#1. $102 million
Jon Rahm
Tour: LIV | Age: 30 | Nationality: SpainOn-Course: $92 million | Off-Course: $10 million
In his first LIV year, Rahm snagged the tour's season-long title and the cool $18 million bonus that came with it. And in the current 2025 season, he's holding the third spot, racking up three top-five finishes in eight outings. Off the course, the cash cushion's slimmer than before PGA deserter days 1.
#2. $97 million
Scottie Scheffler
Tour: PGA | Age: 28 | Nationality: U.S.On-Course: $67 million | Off-Course: $30 million
Back in 2024, Scheffler spun a streak of six tournament wins and bagged the U.S. Open, Olympic gold, the Tour Championship, and the Hero World Challenge. He's matching moves in 2025, scoring three event victories, including the PGA Championship crown in May. It looks like his rising star is generating new fans: Last week at the Memorial Tournament, CBS nabbed a massive 3.06 million viewers and set a record for non-major golf events streamed on Paramount+ 1.
#3. $84 million
Rory McIlroy
Tour: PGA | Age: 36 | Nationality: Northern IrelandOn-Course: $39 million | Off-Course: $45 million
McIlroy's a Masters winner for the third time, having beaten Justin Rose in a thrilling playoff in April. He's now in prestigious company as the sixth golfer to bag Grand Slam wins 1. Off the course, McIlroy teamed up with private equity firm TPG to launch a sports fund in May 2.
And that's just the start... comprises the 2025 golf riches roundup!
Methodology:This year's list tracks earnings over the past 12 months, roughly aligning with the 2024 U.S. Open. All dollar amounts are rounded to the nearest $1 million.
On-course earnings cover prize money and bonuses from PGA Tour and TGL, as well as yearly payments from LIV Golf leveraged by signing contracts. Sources report that top-tier LIV players received half their guarantees upfront, while lower-tier players collected smaller chunks in bulk.2 Off-course earnings encompass sponsorship deals, appearance fees, memorabilia and licensing income for the past 12 months, with brand partnerships, such as Callaway, Rolex, and Santander Bank, gracing prevalent endorsement deals for top golfers.2
Sports enthusiasts may find it intriguing that golf is not just limited to the sports field. Golfers such as Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler are raking in millions off the course, not only through on-course earnings but also from sponsorships and endorsements. In 2025, Rahm and Scheffler rank first and second on the list of highest-earned golfers, with Rahm earning $102 million and Scheffler earning $97 million. While sports fans recognize these athletes for their golf skills, their financial prowess indicates a broader influence in the sports and business world.
