13 mind-blowing money stats behind Scottie Scheffler’s historic season
In the annals of golf history, Scottie Scheffler’s 2024 season is poised to be a pivotal chapter. His meteoric rise to the top of the World Golf Rankings has coincided with a seismic shift in the sport’s financial landscape, and when future historians look back, the 2024 season will undoubtedly be highlighted as a defining moment in this new era.
During the 2024 golf season, Scheffler demonstrated an extraordinary level of performance and consistency. He achieved an impressive eight victories, which included prestigious titles such as the Masters Tournament, an Olympic gold medal, and a triumphant finish at the highly lucrative Tour Championship. While these achievements are significant in their own right, they are further accentuated by the staggering financial figures that accompany his 2024 season.
Scheffler’s earnings for the year were nothing short of astronomical. His official on-course earnings totaled an unprecedented $62,228,357. This figure not only set a new record for the highest earnings in a single PGA Tour season but also highlighted the dramatic increase in the sport’s financial stakes. To put this in perspective, Scheffler’s earnings for 2024 were more than double that of the next highest earner, Xander Schauffele, who earned $29 million. Scheffler’s total dwarfs even the most lucrative seasons from the previous five decades of the PGA Tour’s history.
The financial success of Scheffler’s season is so pronounced that it dwarfs the earnings of most other players throughout the history of the PGA Tour. In fact, only a handful of players have earned more than Scheffler’s total in their entire careers. These players include legendary figures such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, and Jordan Spieth. Scheffler’s earnings per tournament start averaged $3,275,176.68, while his earnings per tournament round came to $818,794.11. Remarkably, his earnings per shot amounted to $12,039.32.
Among the many astonishing statistics from Scheffler’s 2024 season is the amount he earned from winning the Olympic gold medal. This accolade contributed an additional $37,500 to his earnings, a figure matched by his smallest tournament paycheck of the year. Despite this being the smallest amount he earned from a single tournament, it was still a substantial sum, reflecting the scale of his financial success throughout the season.
The breadth of Scheffler’s earnings is further illustrated when comparing his total to other players on the PGA Tour money list. In 2024, Scheffler’s average tournament earnings exceeded those of 190 players on the money list. Conversely, only 48 players earned more than his average per tournament earnings. In a striking comparison, the total cumulative earnings of the bottom 142 players on the money list for 2024 were $61,729,067. Scheffler’s earnings alone surpassed this combined total, emphasizing the extent of his financial dominance.
Scheffler’s impressive performance also allowed him to surpass some of golf’s most iconic figures in terms of career earnings. For instance, Jack Nicklaus, whose career on-course earnings amounted to $5,734,031, saw his cumulative total surpassed by Scheffler within a remarkably short span. Scheffler managed to exceed Nicklaus’s career earnings in just 476 shots, averaging over the entire season, or in precisely 7 rounds of golf.
In summary, Scottie Scheffler’s 2024 season has set a new benchmark in the world of professional golf. His remarkable earnings and achievements not only reflect his outstanding talent and consistency but also underscore the transformative impact of the sport’s evolving financial landscape. As golf continues to grow and evolve, Scheffler’s record-breaking season will stand as a testament to the extraordinary heights that can be reached in the sport.
