If you watch a PGA Tour event, you would be hard pressed to find anything on the size of the purse or how much money the winner is pocketing for a win that particular week.
For the longest time, the PGA Tour has limited any discussion of purse or money won and instead pushed FedEx Cup Points. This is understandable since the delivery company writes a huge yearly check to support the points system.
Yes using money to pay for their sponsorship, what a novel idea.
The notion is to make points more important than money, yet when the last event, the Tour Championship, concludes, the discussion switches back to money.
So, when Justin Thomas won $3.6 million for his playoff victory over Andrew Novak at the Heritage, the focus was on the 700 points he earned for his 16th PGA Tour win.
Have you ever wondered how many points it takes to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, or even a car?
It reminds me a lot of John Wick and the gold coins he pays out for everything he buys, including services, food, or a night at The Continental Hotel.
With 18 tournaments in the books, Rory McIlroy is the leading money earner in 2025 with $13,257,558 or an average of $2.210 million per event.
Thomas, who is in second place after his win, is at $6,920,663, an average per event of $6,921 thousand.
After McIlroy and Thomas, the list continues with Russell Henley, Colin Morikawa, Ludvig Aberg, Scottie Scheffler, Maverick McNealy, and J.J. Spaun.
Interestingly, Morikawa, Scheffler, McNealy, and Spaun haven’t won in 2025.
In total, 67 players have earned over $1 million in 2025, with Christiaan Bezuidenhout at 67th earning $1,010,431, less than the tour average of $1,059,301.
At the LIV Golf League, which is playing its sixth event this week in Mexico City, the League is also not interested in discussing money but points.
Common ground and the one thing the two sides can agree on.
Joaquin Niemann has earned $8,604,524 in five events, with Bubba Watson at 34th on the money list and the last player to earn over a million at $1,009,167 so far this season.
Neimann is averaging $1,721 million over his five events on LIV in 2025.
All this information on money is left out of almost every story, television and radio coverage of both the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf League which is a shame, because fans understand money and wins; they don’t understand points and systems that mean little to them because points, in this context, are so foreign to most fans.
We need to bring back a focus on money and wins in golf.
I don’t suggest dropping points, but let’s emphasize what pays the bills and what the fans understand.
Related: How Much Money Rory McIlroy Earns for Masters Win
Related: Another Victory for Joaquin Niemann in Singapore
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