How Tiger Woods single-handedly created millionaires on PGA Tour before LIV Golf

But not in 2023. Now, it barely even matters to be good.

LIV Golf has changed the financial landscape of professional golf
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Pat Perez, the world no.504, recently earned more than £6million from eight LIV Golf events, despite an average finishing position of 32nd in a 48-man field.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund’s willingness to throw billions at golf has put LIV players Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson inside the top seven highest-paid athletes in 2023.

Johnson has two wins in the last 12 months, both on the LIV tour. Mickelson has none.

Having struck a framework deal with the PIF, the PGA Tour will soon get a large slice of that cake – and professional golfers are set to continue earning more millions than ever before, without necessarily winning.

That would be Tiger Woods – and he did it simply by being the best.

Before the 15-time major winner burst onto the scene in 1996, the PGA Tour was stuck in a rut without Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

Purses had increased at a steady rate of around 4.5 per cent per year between 1984 and 1996, so that by the time Woods turned professional in August 1996, the average purse at a PGA Tour event was around £325,000.

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