The Korn Ferry Tour Championship brought the season to an end, as a field of 74 competed for one of the PGA Tour cards available at the event.
While 30 players eventually earned their cards via the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, there was also prize money available throughout the 26-tournament season, but how much did the top Korn Ferry Tour Player earn? And how does the figure compare to the average earnings on the PGA Tour so far this year?
The player who finished top of the Korn Ferry Money List is one of the 30 who will be heading to the PGA Tour next season, Matt McCarty. Helped by three wins along the way, he claimed a total of $1,001,602. That's some distance above the player who finished runner-up on the list, Max McGreevy, who won $766,813 and will also take his place on the PGA Tour next season.
Max McGreevy is another high-earning Korn Ferry Tour player heading to the PGA Tour next season
McCarty’s biggest paydays came with his victories. He won $180,000 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship and the Pinnacle Bank Championship before claiming his biggest payout of the year, $270,000, for this win at the first Korn Ferry Tour Finals event, the Albertsons Boise Open.
A T5 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship banked him another $54,375 to take him to seven figures in earnings for the year. McCarty’s prize money also far outstrips the Korn Ferry Tour average for the year, which came to $112,503.
So, how does McCarty’s prize money on the Korn Ferry Tour compare to the average PGA Tour earnings in 2024?
Unlike the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour season still has six events to go as the FedEx Cup Fall section continues. However, following the Sanderson Farm Championship, it's clear the average earnings on the PGA Tour are significantly higher than what McCarty won for his glorious season on the Korn Ferry Tour.
So far, the figure stands at $1,956,000, while you have to go down to 121st on the list to find the first player with lower earnings than McCarty so far – Nico Echavarria, who has won $977,660.
Nico Echavarria is the first player on the PGA Tour Money List who has earned less than Matt McCarty so far this season
For the record, McCarty features on the 2024 PGA Tour Money List too. That’s because he got an early feel for what he can expect next season with an appearance at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where he finished T63.
That earned him $16,340, placing him 232nd on the list – still a long way short of the runaway leader this season, Scottie Scheffler, who has official earnings of an incredible $29,228,357, not counting the $30m bonus he banked for winning the FedEx Cup.
Given all that, it’s safe to assume that, form permitting, McCarty and the other Korn Ferry Tour players joining him on the PGA Tour can expect significantly greater rewards in the months to come than they’ve been used to.
