The top money winners in PGA Tour history

VIJAY SINGH top money winners in pga tour history
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

For millions of people around the world, golf is a beloved pastime that often means relaxing hours spent outdoors with friends or family. For the players who compete on the PGA Tour, the game takes on a whole other level of intensity.

Like most pro athletes, the elite golfers on the PGA Tour make generous salaries but, unlike players in team sports, the size of their paychecks is almost entirely decided by how well they play in any given week. Have a bad tournament and you’ll end up at the bottom of the leaderboard, going home with a fraction of what the winner earns.

While thousands of players have competed on the PGA Tour since its founding in 1929, these are the top money winners in PGA Tour history as of March 2021.

30. Justin Leonard

Career Earnings: $33.8 million

Of Justin Leonard’s 12 career PGA Tour victories, the 1997 British Open was the most memorable. It may have been his only major championship but he’s still managed to make a killing on the tour since debuting in 1994. The native Texan has posted 99 top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events, including 11 in majors. Leonard’s best single year for winnings on tour came in 2008, when he made the cut in 24 of 25 events played and collected more than $3.9 million.

Justin Leonard
AP Photo/Mark Duncan

29. Patrick Reed

Career Earnings: $33.9 million

In just his first decade on tour, Patrick Reed has already placed himself among the top earners in PGA history. He’s won at least one event in all but one season since 2013, including the 2018 Masters, which is his only win at a major so far. From 2014-2020, Reed made at least $3 million every year from PGA Tour events, with his most lucrative season yet coming in 2016, when he raked in more than $5.6 million. He had a career-best 11 top-10 finishes that year.

Patrick Reed
AP Photo/Darron Cummings

28. Brooks Koepka

Career Earnings: $34.2 million

A beast under the brightest lights, half of Brooks Koepka’s career wins on the PGA Tour so far have come in major tournaments. Since turning pro in 2012, the Florida native has won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship twice each, putting him in elite company at both of those prestigious events. He was named PGA Tour player of the year in 2018, when he won both of those events and earned more than $7 million.

Brooks Koepka
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

27. Kevin Na

Career Earnings: $34.8 million

The 2021 season marks 20 years since Kevin Na made his debut on the PGA Tour and he’s averaged about $1.7 million in winnings per year in that span. Not bad for a guy who didn’t win his first PGA Tour event until 2011 and waited until 2018 to win his second. Despite the relative lack of tournament titles, Na has been a regular near the top of leaderboards since the mid-2000s and has only had two seasons since 2004 where he failed to make a single top 10. So far, Na’s richest season came in 2018, when he earned more than $3.5 million from PGA Tour events.

Kevin Na
AP Photo/Eric Gay

26. Rory Sabbatini

Career Earnings: $35 million

Another veteran of the tour, Rory Sabbatini has actually earned more money from PGA events than fellow South African legend Gary Player ever did — even if his win total pales in comparison. Sabbatini won his first of six career PGA Tour events in 2000, in only his second year as a pro. Sabbatini’s career-defining season came in 2007, when he had 10 finishes in the top 10, including a runner-up finish at the Masters, and made a personal-best $4.5 million. Despite more than $35 million in career winnings, a major title has eluded him so far.

Rory Sabbatini
AP Photo/J Pat Carter

25. Luke Donald

Career Earnings: $36.4 million

Former world No. 1 golfer Luke Donald is one of the most successful English players in PGA Tour history. He was atop the golf world in 2011, when he won two PGA Tour events and topped the money list by raking in more than $6.6 million on the course. That was by far his best single season — nearly doubling the earnings he made in his second-best season — but Donald has been a steady earner in America since 2002, when he won his first event on the tour. Like some others on this list, the Brit has yet to win a major but that hasn’t kept him from climbing the all-time money list.

Luke Donald
AP Photo/John Minchillo

24. Brandt Snedeker

Career Earnings: $39 million

Nashville’s Brandt Snedeker didn’t win his first PGA Tour event until 2007, but he’s earned nine victories since then and vaulted his way onto this list of elite players. From 2011-2016, he was about as lucrative as any player in the world, commanding at least $3 million per year in all but one season during that span and winning seven tournaments. The former PGA Tour rookie of the year is yet another star golfer who has yet to win a major, although you’d never know it if you looked at his bank account.

Brandt Snedeker
AP Photo/Chuck Burton

23. Rickie Fowler

Career Earnings: $39.2 million

Known as much for his eye-catching outfits on the course as for his consistent play, Rickie Fowler has earned more than enough on the PGA Tour to fill his colorful closet. The California native has been a regular near the top of leaderboards since 2009, which was his second year on tour. Fowler has won five PGA Tour events, none of which were majors, but he’s finished inside the top three at all four major championships. From 2014-2019, Fowler was stacking up the winnings, collecting more than $27 million in that span alone.

Rickie Fowler orange
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

22. Stewart Cink

Career Earnings: $39.8 million

With his victory at the 2021 Safeway Open, veteran golfer Stewart Cink made it a remarkable 24 years between his first PGA Tour win and his most recent. In that long span, he’s played in more than 600 events and made the cut at more than 460 of them. Among his seven career PGA Tour victories is the 2009 British Open, which he took in an intense four-hole playoff against the legendary Tom Watson. Cink’s best season for winnings came in 2004 when he won two events and took home more than $4.4 million while battling some of the game’s all-time greats atop the money board.

Stewart Cink
AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

21. Charles Howell III

Career Earnings: $40.7 million

Since joining the tour in 2001, Georgia’s Charles Howell III has made the cut in more than 77% of the nearly 600 events in which he’s played. That consistency, which has led him to nearly 100 top-10 finishes so far, has padded his bank account nicely. Howell has only won three PGA Tour events in that span and hasn’t been all that good at the majors, with his best finish being in 10th place at the 2003 PGA Championship. Still, since 2001, he’s never earned less than $1 million in a single season and had his most lucrative year in 2019, when he took home more than $3 million.

Charles Howell III family
AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton

20. David Toms

Career Earnings: $41.9 million

David Toms has since moved on to the PGA’s senior tour but when he was competing at the most elite level, he was one of the most reliable winners in the game. From 1997-2011, Toms won 13 PGA Tour events, including his lone major at the 2001 PGA Championship. Despite winning a career-high three events that season, it was only his third-most lucrative year and one of six where he collected at least $3 million on the course.

David Toms
AP Photo/Stephen Morton

19. Webb Simpson

Career Earnings: $41.96 million

While 2020 was awful for many of us, Webb Simpson was playing some of the best golf of his long career on the PGA Tour. It was the third season in which he’s earned more than $5 million of winnings since turning pro in 2008 and he was awarded the prestigious Vardon Trophy for having the best scoring average on tour all season. Simpson’s only major championship to date may have come at the 2012 U.S. Open but his single best season so far came in 2011, when he won the first two of his seven career titles and collected more than $6.3 million.

Webb Simpson US Open
AP Photo/John Minchillo

18. Jordan Spieth

Career Earnings: $42.7 million

Few golfers in modern history have had as meteoric a rise in the sport as Jordan Spieth. Since turning pro in 2013, the Texan has won 11 PGA Tour events, including three of the four major championships. Spieth’s 2015 season was the stuff of legend, when he won five events, including the Masters and U.S. Open and finished runner-up at the PGA Championship, and collected an astounding $12 million in winnings. That’s the most money any PGA Tour golfer has ever won in a single season and went a long way to rocketing the young star up this list so early in his career.

Jordan Spieth trophies
AP Photo/John Amis

17. Justin Thomas

Career Earnings: $42.9 million

Similar to Jordan Spieth, Kentucky-born Justin Thomas hasn’t taken long to cement himself among the richest players in golf history. Thomas didn’t get his first win until 2016 but he’s racked up 14 of them since then, including the 2017 PGA Championship. In the 2017 and 2018 seasons alone, he won nearly $19 million, topping the money list both years and earning eight titles. It seems likely that Thomas will keep climbing this list for a long time to come.

Justin Thomas
AP Photo/Matt Dunham

16. Steve Stricker

Career Earnings: $44.8 million

Steve Stricker joined the PGA Tour in 1990 and he continues to collect winnings on it to this day, posting his latest top-10 finish at the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open. While he hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2012, Stricker was as consistent as any golfer during his lucrative stretch from 2006-2013. He made more than $31 million in winnings during those years alone and earned nine of his 12 career wins. Stricker finished second only to Tiger Woods on the money list in 2009 when he collected a career-best $6.3 million.

Steve Stricker
AP Photo/Reed Saxon

15. Davis Love III

Career Earnings: $44.9 million

Only four men in PGA Tour history have posted more top-10 finishes than Hall-of-Fame golfer Davis Love III. The North Carolina native has played in at least one PGA Tour event in every season since 1985, winning his most recent tournament in 2015. That season marked the 19th in which Love had earned at least $1 million in winnings. His best golf was played during the late 1990s, when he won 12 of his 21 career events, including his lone major at the 1997 PGA Championship, although his most lucrative period coming from 1999-2006, when he made more than $24 million.

Davis Love III
AP Photo/Julie Fletcher

14. Bubba Watson

Career Earnings: $46.4 million

Since becoming a full-time PGA Tour golfer in 2006, the big-hitting Bubba Watson has yet to have a season where he earned less than $1 million in winnings. The two-time Masters champion has earned at least $3 million in seven different seasons and has topped the $5 million plateau three times. During the 2010s, the Floridian was a constant figure near the top of leaderboards, winning 12 PGA Tour events and posting 52 top-10 finishes.

Bubba Watson
AP Photo/Gregory Bull

13. Zach Johnson

Career Earnings: $46.9 million

Like his contemporary, Bubba Watson, Zach Johnson is a two-time major winner who ranks among the game’s all-time earners because of his consistent play. Johnson has won 12 PGA Tour events so far, with 11 of them coming from 2007-2015, and is one of only six players in history to win at both Augusta and St. Andrews, arguably the sport’s two most beloved courses. He’s had four seasons in which he earned at least $4 million in winnings but one of Johnson’s best moments came in 2020 when he earned the PGA Tour’s prestigious Payne Stewart Award for sportsmanship and character.

Zach Johnson
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

12. Jason Day

Career Earnings: $48.6 million

Australia has a proud tradition of golfers and Jason Day is one of the best to ever come from that continent. He won his first of 12 career PGA Tour events in 2010, but Day became a star in the sport in 2011 when he posted runner-up finishes at the Masters and U.S. Open. The Aussie was on an incredible run from 2015-2016, winning eight events in those two seasons, including the 2015 PGA Championship, and raking in more than $17.4 million in winnings.

Jason Day
AP Photo/Willie J. Allen, Jr.

11. Ernie Els

Career Earnings: $49.3 million

South African golf icon Ernie Els, aka “The Big Easy,” has posted 128 top-10 finishes at PGA Tour events in his long career, helping him place high on the all-time money list. Els is one of the all-time greats on the European Tour but his performance on the PGA Tour has been remarkable as well. Among his 19 career victories are four majors, with two each coming at the U.S. Open and British Open across three different decades. Among his list of career-defining accolades are the 1994 PGA Tour rookie of the year, the 2015 Payne Stewart Award and an induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Ernie Els
AP Photo/Nick Wass

10. Matt Kuchar

Career Earnings: $51.6 million

Only 10 players in PGA Tour history have earned at least $50 million in winnings and Matt Kuchar is probably the least likely among them to make the claim. The 2010 Vardon Trophy winner counts nine victories among his accomplishments, a relatively low number compared to others this high on the list, none of which were at majors. Still, from 2008-2020, the Florida native was one of the tour’s most reliable earners and even topped the money list in 2010, narrowly edging out all-time greats Ernie Els and Jim Furyk.

Matt Kuchar
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

9. Sergio Garcia

Career Earnings: $52.4 million

Since turning pro in 1999, Spain’s Sergio Garcia has been one of the PGA Tour’s most animated and consistent players. His 11 career victories on the tour span from 2001 to 2021 and include the 2017 Masters, which came after decades of painfully close finishes at major championships. But Garcia’s best year for on-course earnings on the PGA Tour came in 2014 when he collected $4.9 million despite not winning a single tournament.

Sergio Garcia
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

8. Justin Rose

Career Earnings: $54.7 million

British star Justin Rose has split his career between the PGA Tour and European Tour, which makes his high spot on the former’s all-time money list even more impressive. His 10 victories on the PGA Tour have all come since 2010 and include the 2013 U.S. Open, which is his lone major championship so far. From 2004-2019, Rose won at least $1 million in prize money every season, with his best year by far coming in 2018, when he won two events, posted 11 top-10 finishes and earned more than $8.1 million on the course.

Justin Rose
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

7. Rory McIlroy

Career Earnings: $54.8 million

The pride of Northern Ireland, Rory McIlroy has been one of the game’s top stars since 2010 and was the youngest player to make our list of the best golfers in PGA Tour history. He’s won a remarkable 18 PGA Tour events and has been among the steadiest big earners in golf history. From 2010-2020, McIlroy averaged $4.7 million in winnings per season, topping the money list in 2012 and 2014. He won two of his four career majors in that latter season and the Masters is the only one that has eluded the future Hall of Famer to this point.

Rory McIlroy
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

6. Adam Scott

Career Earnings: $56.1 million

In 2013, Adam Scott made history by becoming the first Australian to win the Masters in one of the most intense finishes at Augusta in history. It’s been Scott’s only major championship so far but he’s posted top-five finishes at all three of the other events. Since debuting on the PGA Tour in 2000, he’s won 14 events and had another 13 second-place finishes. His most lucrative season so far came in 2016, when he won a career-best two events and collected $6.4 million in prize money.

Adam Scott 2013 Masters green jacket
AP Photo/Matt Slocum

5. Dustin Johnson

Career Earnings: $71.2 million

The chasm between the top five earners in PGA Tour history and the rest of the list is quite wide, as they’ve each earned at least $70 million from events. South Carolina’s Dustin Johnson is poised to climb into the top three on the all-time money list because of his remarkable level of play since becoming a full-time PGA Tour pro in 2008. He’s won at least one event every season since then and has won at least two tournaments in five different seasons. In total, Johnson has won 24 PGA Tour events, including two majors.

Dustin Johnson
AP Photo/Tony Dejak

4. Vijay Singh

Career Earnings: $71.23 million

When we ranked our picks for the best golfers in PGA Tour history, Vijay Singh was ranked as the best non-American player ever. The Fiji native was one of golf’s most recognizable stars during the 1990s and 2000s, winning 34 PGA Tour events during those two decades and raking in the winnings. The Hall of Famer and three-time major winner led the tour’s money list in 2003, 2004 and 2008, while his $10.9 million season in 2004 was the all-time single-season earnings mark for more than a decade. He’s been on the senior tour since 2013, where he’s continued to make bank.

VIJAY SINGH
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

3. Jim Furyk

Career Earnings: $71.4 million

There are only two players who’ve had more top-10 finishes at PGA Tour events than Jim Furyk — and they are the icons ahead of him on this list. The Pennsylvania native, known for his extremely unorthodox swing, has only won a single major and has never topped the money list but has nonetheless commanded a rich pile of winnings for his constant presence on the tour since 1994. Furyk’s best individual season for earnings came in 2006, when he pulled down $7.2 million, won two events and had four runner-up finishes.

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

2. Phil Mickelson

Career Earnings: $92.3 million

Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson won his first of 44 PGA Tour events as an amateur in 1991 and has been one of the sport’s steadiest earners for more than 20 years. From 1996-2020, Mickelson won at least $1 million in prize money every season but remarkably never topped the single-season money list. His incredible list of victories includes five majors, with only the U.S. Open eluding him in infamous fashion.

AP Photo/Chuck Burton

1. Tiger Woods

Career Earnings: $120.8 million

Who else could top the list of the PGA Tour’s biggest moneymakers? Tiger Woods is the only player to ever surpass $100 million in tour winnings and he’s earned more than three times that of other guys on the all-time earnings list. His 82 career PGA Tour wins are tied atop the all-time list and his 15 major victories are ranked second only to the legendary Jack Nicklaus. Woods topped the money list in 10 different seasons, topped the $5 million plateau 14 different times and earned more than $10 million in three different seasons.

All those figures are mind-blowing but what makes his stack of winnings even more impressive is that Woods has been notoriously selective with the tournaments at which he’s played and has had several seasons almost completely wiped out by injuries.

AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
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About the Author
Clint Davis
Clint has watched way too many TV shows and movies and makes a great partner for trivia night. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife, baby son and two massive dogs.

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