Scheffler dethrones Woods as PGA Tour all-time top earner after 26 years
Scottie Scheffler has ended Tiger Woods’s 26-year reign at the top of the all-time PGA Tour prize money list after winning the season-ending Tour Championship.
Scheffler’s three-shot victory at East Lake clinched the FedEx Cup and earned the world No1 $10m, taking the 30-year-old’s career total to more than $130m.
Woods congratulated Scheffler in a post on social media, writing: “Three wins, five runner-ups and finishing the season No1. Those are some numbers to be proud of. Incredible consistency all season long. Congrats on a historic season, Scottie.”
It has taken Scheffler just seven years to become the PGA Tour’s all-time prize money leader, thanks to his prolific record and a steep increase in payouts in recent years.
He has amassed 22 wins on the world’s premier circuit, including four majors – the Masters, twice, the US PGA Championship and The Open.
His ascent has also coincided with the PGA Tour significantly boosting prize pots at its biggest events in response to LIV Golf’s lucrative rival circuit.
Scheffler no match for Woods $2bn total earnings
Including bonuses such as for the FedEx Cup, Scheffler’s on-course earnings are around $200m, but his off-course earnings are no match for Tiger’s.
Woods is estimated to have banked $2bn over his career, the vast majority in endorsement fees from the likes of Nike, TaylorMade and Rolex.
Scheffler was only around $600,000 behind Woods before the Tour Championship, having overtaken Rory McIlroy for second place on the list earlier this summer.
McIlroy himself is only around $1.5m behind Woods and looks set to pass the 15-time major winner, whose professional career has ground to a halt, imminently.
Scheffler won the Tour Championship and claimed his second FedEx Cup with a final round of 66 on Sunday that saw him pass overnight leader Viktor Hovland.
“The golf course got a bit firmer, there was some wind – for Atlanta this feels like a lot of wind,” he said afterwards.
“With the way the rough is, when it gets firm the fair starts to play a little bit more narrow.
“Today was a day when I was able to get off to a good start and I was able to make some birdies late in the round to seal the deal.”