Over 100 million: These are the PGA Tour golfers with the highest prize money

The PGA Tour is the most prestigious golf tour in the world and attracts the best talent competing for big prize money and eternal glory. While the current prize money reaches dizzying heights, it's worth taking a look at the perpetual money rankings to appreciate the true icons and their financial successes. This list not only reveals the top earners, but also interesting aspects such as the development of prize money over the decades. Even names that don't even appear say a lot.

The top 10 of the perpetual PGA Tour money rankings

Led by a living legend, the top 10 of the perpetual money list brings together names that have left a lasting mark on golf:

-1st Tiger Woods

o Prize money: $120,999,166

o Greatest successes: 15 Major titles (including 5 Masters, 4 PGA Championships, 3 US Open, 3 Open Championships), 82 PGA Tour victories (record), 11-time PGA Tour Player of the Year. Woods' dominance over two decades is unmatched and is reflected in his achievements.

-2. Rory McIlroy

o Prize money: $104,967,688

o Greatest successes: 5 Major titles (US Open, Open Championship, 2 PGA Championships, Masters), 29 PGA Tour victories, 3-time FedExCup champion. The Northern Irish superstar has been at the top of the sport for over a decade and his prize money account is constantly growing. Sooner or later he will catch up with Woods.

-3rd Scottie Scheffler

o Prize money: $86,352,284

o Greatest successes: 3 Major titles (2 Masters, PGA Championship), 16 PGA Tour victories, 2-time FedExCup champion, number 1 in the world rankings. Scheffler's rise is phenomenal; he has collected enormous successes and prize money in a very short space of time.

-4. Jim Furyk

o Prize money: $71,507,269

o Greatest successes: 1 Major title (US Open), 17 PGA Tour victories, FedExCup Champion 2010. Jim Furyk has played over 600 events on the PGA Tour and has finished in the top ten 109 times.

-5th Vijay Singh

o Prize money: $71,281,216

o Greatest successes: 3 Major titles (Masters, 2 PGA Championships), 34 PGA Tour victories, 2-time Player of the Year. The "Big Fijian" was a dominant force in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

-6th Adam Scott

o Prize money: $69,070,798

o Greatest successes: 1 Major title (Masters), 14 PGA Tour victories. The Australian has been one of the most consistent players on Tour for many years.

-7th Justin Rose

o Prize money: $69,060,060

o Greatest successes: 1 Major title (US Open), 11 PGA Tour victories, 2016 Olympic champion. The Englishman is a crowd favorite and has remained at the top over a long career.

-8th Justin Thomas

o Prize money: $68,500,885

o Greatest achievements: 2 Major titles (2 PGA Championships), 16 PGA Tour victories, 2017 FedExCup Champion, Players of the Year. Thomas is one of the most dynamic players of the younger generation and also a fan favorite.

-9th Jordan Spieth

o Prize money: $65,533,591

o Greatest successes: 3 Major titles (Masters, US Open, Open Championship), 13 PGA Tour victories, FedExCup Champion 2015, Player of the Year. Spieth's meteoric rise and his Major successes made him a superstar.

-10th Jason Day

o Prize money: $63,508,235

o Greatest successes: 1 Major title (PGA Championship), 13 PGA Tour victories. The Australian was at times No. 1 in the world rankings and has put together an impressive winning streak.

Alex Cejka best-placed German, Martin Kaymer not listed

Although the PGA Tour is traditionally dominated by American players, some German golfers have also made a name for themselves and won considerable prize money. The quartet is surprisingly led by Alex Cejka, who is ranked 171st in the all-time money list with over 12.9 million dollars. Cejka was one of the pioneers of German golf on the PGA Tour and was able to hold his own for many years before later shining with great success on the PGA Tour Champions. During his career on the PGA Tour, however, he slipped into second place at times.

Just behind him is Stephan Jäger in 191st place, also with over twelve million dollars in prize money. Jäger has established himself as a permanent fixture on the PGA Tour in recent years and reached a significant milestone in his career with his first Tour victory in 2024, the Texas Children's Houston Open. He also struggled in the second division for a long time, but has now established himself on the top Tour.

Bernhard Langer set records elsewhere

A true icon of the sport is Bernhard Langer, who is ranked 218th with over 10.7 million dollars. However, Langer's prize money on the PGA Tour, which includes two Masters victories, is only a small part of his outstanding career. He is second on the list of players with the most victories on the DP World Tour (42 wins) and the record holder of PGA Tour Champions (48 wins, shared with Sam Snead). While Alex Cejka and Bernhard Langer have built up their impressive sums over very long and sometimes different career phases, Stephan Jäger belongs to the generation that is active in an era of rapidly increasing prize money. It should only be a matter of time before he is ahead of Cejka.

Matti Schmid is a promising up-and-coming talent in 275th place with over 4.4 million dollars. Schmid is a good example of the new wave of German golfers establishing themselves on the PGA Tour. His second place at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May 2025 recently showed his potential again and suggests that his prize money will increase significantly in the coming years. Compared to Langer, his prize money seems almost absurd. In just three years, Schmid has earned almost half of what Langer earned with two major victories, among other things. Although the man from Anhausen concentrated on the European circuit, it speaks volumes for the exploding stock markets on the PGA Tour.

The best of all time has only earned 5.7 million

The list also sheds an interesting light on the development of the. It is notable that Martin Kaymer, whose career prize money on the PGA Tour is over 11.4 million dollars, like all other players who joined LIV Golf after its inception in 2021, does not appear on the list. This is because the PGA Tour has removed these players from its official rankings, clearly reflecting the current divide in professional golf. Kaymer, a former PGA Championship and US Open major winner and world number one, was a prominent face on Tour before his switch. He would be around 200th in the all-time money rankings. Players such as Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka are much higher up, but they have also been removed from the list.

Equally revealing is Jack Nicklaus' position in 333rd place with "only" around 5.7 million dollars. Nicklaus, who won an unrivaled 18 major titles and is considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time, played in an era when prize money was only a fraction of what is paid out today. His lower prize money compared to today's players, who have won far fewer majors, illustrates the huge inflation of prize money in golf over the decades. His true merits and impact on the sport go far beyond financial listings and are inextricably linked to his historic dominance. Above all, the PGA Tour money rankings are a fascinating reflection of the history of golf and its financial development.

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