Golfers’ Annual Earnings Rankings…LIV Players Outpace PGA Remnants
Players in Saudi Arabia’s capital-backed LIV Golf have been found to earn significantly more than those who shunned transfer offers and stayed on the U.S. Professional Golf (PGA) Tour.
According to a ranking of golfers’ earnings over the past year, released today by US business magazine Forbes, the ‘transfer wave’ of players who switched to LIV Golf swept to the top of the list.
After dividing golfers’ earnings into ‘on-course’ and ‘off-course’ over the past 12 months, LIV Golf icon Dustin Johnson (US) took the top spot, earning $111 million (about KRW 143.5 billion).
A yearly income of 1435 billion won is roughly 400 million won per day.
In second place was Phil Mickelson (US), who also moved to LIV, with $107 million in earnings.
The only PGA Tour player in the top five is Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland).
He ranks third with an annual income of $80 million.
Brooks Koepka ($77 million-USA) in fourth place and Cameron Smith ($76 million-Australia) in fifth place are both LIV players.
The “Emperor of Golf” Tiger Woods (USA) is in sixth place with $75 million.
Launched in June last year, LIV Golf lured major PGA Tour players away with hefty signing bonuses and a “money feast” with a $4 million prize pool for winning tournaments.
Woods, McIlroy and others stayed with the PGA Tour and fought LIV Golf, citing loyalty and cause, but felt betrayed when the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced a merger on July 7.
“I feel like a victim (of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf fight),” McIlroy said in an interview after the two organizations merged.
Just over a year after the PGA Tour and LIV merger, the players who made the big bucks by jumping ship to LIV are back in business as usual, while those who stayed on the PGA Tour wonder where they’ll get the compensation they deserved for turning down LIV’s offer.
In fact, when PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monaghan met with the players after the merger was announced, he was reportedly met with a lot of pushback from the players 메이저놀이터.
The seventh and eighth spots on the annual earnings list are also held by LIV players Bryson DeChambeau ($71 million) and Patrick Reed (over $53 million).