Highest paid golf players in the world 2024: PGA Tour money list

Our countdown covers all the biggest earners up to and including the Valspar Championship, won in emotional circumstances by Peter Malnati.

The following list features many of the biggest and best names in golf today, while impressive talents like Jason Day and Mexico Open victor Jake Knapp are left knocking on the door.

RadioTimes.com brings you the round-up of the highest-paid golf players on the PGA Tour this year, not including earnings from the LIV Golf series.

Updated: 24th March 2024

10. Will Zalatoris - $2,922,316

Zalatoris is on the comeback trail. A recurring back injury kept off greens for most of 2023, and eventually required surgery. Before his injury nightmare, Zalatoris was showing all the potential to be one of the best golfers on the planet. That’s why it’s doubly good to see him playing great golf once again.
His hard work on his rehab, conditioning and recovery has put Zalatoris in a place where he can challenge the top of leaderboards once again. He built up his early season form, following up a T13 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open with T2 (partly thanks to a hole-in-one) at the Genesis Invitational and T4 at the Arnold Palmer. Those were his first top 10 finishes in almost a year post-surgery. Let’s hope this is the start of a second dawn for a huge talent.

9. Brian Harman - $3,202,283

It’s not going to be easy for Harman to top his 2023 performances, but he’s sure going to try. Last year was the 37-year-old’s landmark season on tour, headlined by winning his first major, the Open. That win was the crowning moment of Harman’s career so far, and also his first PGA tour victory since 2017. It led to his first Ryder Cup appearance and made everyone stand up and notice his talent.

The leftie is currently 8th in the world and his recent outings have been backing up that ranking. He started the season T5 at the Sentry - bagging him nearly $700k - and followed it up with six more consecutive cuts made. The final one of those was his highest earning, finishing 19 under par to seal T2 and nearly $2m at the Players Championship. His 2023 is a lot to live up to, but Harman is putting in that work to exceed his own expectations.

8. Matthieu Pavon - $3,382,793

There aren't too many opportunities to make history on the PGA Tour these days. Beau Hossler recently made some unwanted history, hitting the 1000th shot to find the water at the Players Championship’s iconic 17th. The history Pavon made earlier this season was much more positive. He won his first PGA event back in January, which made him the first French golfer to win on the PGA Tour since 1907.

The 31-year-old has been a professional for more than a decade and achieved his PGA tour status after finishing 15th on last season's Race to Dubai Rankings. His win at the Farmers Insurance Open fired him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and shot him onto this rankings. That victory earned him more than $1.5m, which he almost matched on his next PGA start. A third-place finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am took his two event winnings to over $3m and proved that, though he is new to the PGA, he has all the tools to compete at the highest level.

7. Ludvig Aberg - $3,698,451

Some players come onto the pro scene with a whisper, others with a bang. Aberg’s debut season was the latter. After finishing as the top golfer in the PGA Tour University Class of 2023, he joined the PGA Tour and made an instant impact. 2023 saw him finish high in several events, win his first event and even help Team Europe win the Ryder Cup. Now, it’s important the 24-year-old capitalises on that momentum.

The Swedish sensation has begun 2024 in impressive form. Aberg has beaten the cut in all seven of his PGA events so far this season, earning huge paychecks with lofty finishes at the Farmers Insurance, Players Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He finished second at Pebble Beach, in his tournament debut no less. That event, which was shortened to three days due to weather and safety concerns, earned him more than half of this season-so-far earnings. Don’t be surprised to see him add to it over the rest of the season.

6. Chris Kirk - $4,182,871

Kirk may be 25th in the world rankings, but his powerful start to the 2024 season sees him on the precipice of this list’s top five. The 38-year-old from Athens, Georgia, is here courtesy of his impressive victory at the Sentry, edging out the man fifth on this list by a single stroke.

That win was Kirk’s sixth on tour - in 338 events - and contributed heavily to his season earnings total. Kirk scored 29-under par that weekend, bagging 30 birdies. It was the first time he’d hit that many in a 72-hole event on the PGA. Add that performance to his T18 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, T26 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and T26 at the Players Championship and it equals a wonderful start to the 2024 season. He’s showing that he’s well placed to hold firm on this leaderboard.

5. Sahith Theegala - $4,282,963

Golf’s not all about winning. Amateurs and pros alike focus on the result like it is, but in terms of a money list like this, players can rack up huge season earnings simply by beating cuts and finishing high in leaderboards. Sahith Theegala is proof of that.

The 26-year-old is in the top five despite being without a win so far this season. The golfer ranked 15th in the world has powered onto this list through consistent performances and successful finishes. He finished 5th at the WM Phoenix Open, T6 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T9 at the Players Championship, but his top performance so far this season was at the Sentry. Theegala’s solo-second finish was his third runner-up finish on the PGA and earned him a cool $2m. Theegala is still waiting to earn his second ever Tour victory, but these performances show that he’s getting closer.

4. Xander Schauffele - $4,664,208

Since the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Schauffele has competed in 41 PGA events - and he’s made the cut in every single one. That incredible streak is the longest such run on tour, which makes the fact that he’s only won three times in that period, an even bigger surprise. Xander is standing strong in this list, just as he did last season, through his consistency and class. If he wants to go higher, however, he will need to translate more of his impressive performances into the mammoth pay cheques that come with victories.

That is to take nothing away from the quality of golf Schauffele is playing. His narrow T2 at the PLAYERS contributed nearly $2m of this season earning total, supplementing his top ten finishes at the American Express, Farmers Insurance Open, The Genesis Invitational and Valspar Championship. Schauffele finished tenth on the 2023 money list and is well on his way to bettering that placement in 2024.

3. Hideki Matsuyama - $5,632,462

It’s going to be tough for Hideki Matsuyama to better his top golfing achievement. Three years ago, he became the first Japanese golfer to win one of golf’s majors. That win will probably be his proudest, but it certainly won't be his most lucrative. His 2021 Masters win earned him $2.1m, but the 32-year-old recently bagged almost twice that prize purse at a much smaller event.

Matsuyama is on this list’s podium thanks largely to his performance at the Genesis Invitational in February. He entered the final day six shots off the lead, reeled in the leaders with a round of 62, and took home the trophy - plus $4m. He’s added to that steadily over the season, including winning almost $1m from a T6 finish at the Players Championship, and now sits with a season earnings almost twice as large as his season average on tour. Not bad going, that.

2. Wyndham Clark - $7,896,591

In Jon Rahm’s absence, it looked like there could be a void at the top of the PGA Tour. Wyndham Clark is proving that he’s ready to step up and take a seat at golf’s top table. This season he has stood out from the pack, winning the very well-funded AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and finishing runner up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. These tournaments had Clark’s nest egg looking very tasty going into the tour’s biggest money event where, if not for one of gravity’s cruellest tricks, it could have grown to list-leading levels.

Clark was right in the mix at the Players Championship, pushing the leader all the way on the final day. He birdied holes 16 and 17 to leave himself needing just one more birdie on the final hole to send the tournament into a playoff. His 17-foot putt rolled up to the hole, but then around the lip, and back out towards Clark. He finished T2 and won a hair under $1.9m. The next man on this list won the tournament and went home with $4.5m. Golf is a game of fine margins and huge consequences.

1. Scottie Scheffler - $10,939,500

Here he is, the undisputed number one golfer in the world. He is also a man getting rather wealthy at breakneck speed. Scheffler is a titan on the golf course, dominating fields with his consistent brilliance and composure. Not only is he leading this season’s money race, he’s also recently become the fastest golfer to break the $50m earnings mark on tour.

A sizable chunk of those earnings came from his success at the Players Championship. In March he became the first man to defend that crown, despite a neck injury, and sealed $4.5m in the process. Five years previous, he would’ve earned just half of that.

Scottie is earning every penny on the course, using his ball-striking wizardry and newly found putting perfection to create an unstoppable combination. Even when he’s having a quiet day, he’s climbing leaderboards and earning bank. Every time he shows up, Scottie is the man the beat.

Who is the highest paid PGA Tour golfer of the year?

With the season in full flow, many of the game’s top talents are fighting tooth and nail to climb into the top earners list on the PGA Tour. Yet, even when elite talents like Wyndham Clark and Xander Schauffele are performing near their peak, they are going to struggle to catch the number one golfer in the world.

Two event victories, including the most lucrative PGA tour event, have lined Scottie Scheffler’s pockets nicely to this point. There’s no way the 27-year-old doesn’t collect more silverware - and the prize purses that go with them - before the season is over. Our job is just to watch and enjoy.

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