The Eye-Watering Figure This PGA Tour Winner Spends Each Week... And Where The Money Goes
Speaking to Golf Digest, three-time PGA Tour winner and Ryder Cup star Ben Griffin detailed the financial outlay of playing pro golf in the modern era
Most people know by now there is a staggering amount of money in professional golf, especially on the PGA Tour. But, according to Ben Griffin, it's not all heading into the pockets of the players.
According to an interview by Market Swings' Josh Baylin featuring Kevin Kisner earlier this year, the four-time PGA Tour winner reckoned pros on the historic US circuit will only see about 30% of the figure next to their name in the tournament purse breakdown.
Mind you, that's still more than enough money to live on, so we can put the tiny violin away for the time being.
According to Kisner, a tournament pay check for example will see roughly 8% go to a caddie and around 4% to coaches, with plenty more heading to the taxman - the exact figure of which depends on where the tournament is played.
And the money heading to a player's team that Kisner mentioned above is only bonuses - so that doesn't include their regular base payment.
Then there is transport to and from an event as well as accommodation, groceries, car hire (if one is not already provided) and so on.
The point is, there are plenty of outlays involved in professional golf, as Korn Ferry Tour winner James Nicholas can attest. The American regularly breaks down his spending and earnings at an event on social media, sharing a lot of what he has to deal with while trying to make it onto the PGA Tour.
During an interview with Golf Digest, Griffin explained in even more detail how the financial side of the game works for the best in the business.
Griffin earned almost $12 million on course during 2025 thanks to three wins and a whole host of other impressive finishes. But the actual figure he saw was far lower.
Asked by one fan how much an average week costs him on the PGA Tour, the former loan officer for a mortgage group revealed a shocking figure.
He said: "I would say this question kind of ranges very far across all PGA Tour players. There are definitely going to be some base fees that you’re going to have to pay when you get to a tournament.
"So, obviously travel costs, all hotel costs are on the players or Airbnbs, rental homes, those costs, everyone has a caddie. The caddie needs a base, and also a percentage based on performance. So that can range significantly per tournament, especially depending on how you play.
"Additionally, coaches will come to events, trainers, physios, all of these costs come out of the pocket of the PGA Tour player.
"So my average spend is probably very high, because I just had a really good season, and I pay my caddie, my coach, and my trainer based on my performance, as well as base salaries.
"You could argue my average spend per week this year was probably $50,000."
If we take the aforementioned figure and times it by 30 (the number of events Griffin played in 2025), it can be reasonably assumed that the Ryder Cupper paid out at least $1.5 million last year - that's something like 13% of his total on-course earnings.
But again, with the money he was earning, it's safe to assume Griffin is still doing very well financially and that continues to be true with a decent start to 2026 under his belt.
Also, whether that above number includes factors like taxes is unclear, so Griffin may have truly seen even less when it comes to take-home pay.
Griffin with the World Wide Technology Championship trophy - his third PGA Tour win of 2025
Touching on the subject of taxes elsewhere in the interview, Griffin shared how paying tax works for a golfer who competes all around America.
Asked by Wallster on X what the average fan would be surprised to learn from a PGA Tour pro about finances in golf, Griffin explained: "...The other big surprise is paying taxes.
"We pay taxes based on where we earn, so if I play well in an event in California I'm going to pay federal tax and also the state tax there. If I play well at an event in Texas, I'm going to pay significantly less tax there.
Griffin won the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Texas last year
"So you want to play better in Texas than you do in California, but nonetheless it helps to play well everywhere."
Griffin continued: "Also, what a lot of people might not know is I pay quarterly taxes as well which is based off the previous year's income.
"So if I have a tax bill, for example, that's say $5 million this year, I'm also going to be paying $1.25 million as well to start my quarterly tax bill for next year. So April 15th [2026] is going to take a big hit to Ben Griffin's account."
