Which Golfers Won The Most Money In 2022?

This year was the first year where the game of golf was seismically changed because of money. The emergence of the Saudi Public Investment Fund-backed LIV Golf has seen the landscape of the sport change, and as a result of that, players getting richer and richer like never before.

We've seen huge sums reported for some of the world's biggest names to join Greg Norman's start-up tour, with LIV spending just under $800m in 2022 according to reports. It has forced the PGA Tour to respond by opening its own purse strings, resulting in elevated $20m purses and continued rising bonuses in the FedEx Cup and Player Impact Program.

So, who won the most cash on course this year and how much? Here, we've tried to take a look at on-course earnings from the PGA and DP World Tours, bonus money from the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai, Player Impact Program money and on-course earnings in LIV Golf. It's a tough task and the numbers have been rounded up to two decimal places where necessary.

PGA Tour earnings may be slightly inflated due to them counting since September 2021, when the 2021-22 season began, but the picture is quite clear and simple - the top golfers are earning obscene amounts of money, and this isn't even taking into account sponsorships and other investments that see net worths in the hundreds of millions for the biggest names.

Rory McIlroy was the highest earner of 2022 with $44.8m, with LIV Golf headliner Dustin Johnson second with $37.2m. Take a look at our full list below...

1. RORY MCILROY - $44.8m

The Northern Irishman had a stunning year on the course, wrapping up both the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai titles as well as successful title defences at the RBC Heritage and CJ Cup. His FedEx Cup win was worth $18m alone and the Race to Dubai bonus was a cool $2m. The World No.1's $12m PIP money, from finishing second to Tiger Woods, was ultimately what pushed him ahead of Dustin Johnson. 

• PGA Tour: $10.6m
• DP World Tour: $2.2m
• FedEx Cup: $18m
• Race to Dubai: $2m
• PIP: $12m

2. Dustin Johnson - $37.2m

DJ was a huge coup for LIV and played in all eight of the series' events in the debut season. He was reported to have been offered a fee of $125m to join the Greg Norman-fronted start-up - which we're not counting here - and his on-course earnings were also huge. He won $18m as the Individual champion and another $17m in on-course LIV earnings, both individually and through his share of the team winnings. The American also won around $1.6m on the PGA Tour prior to joining LIV in June to push him over the $37m mark. Not bad for a year's work.

• PGA Tour: $1.6m
• LIV Golf: $35.6m

3. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER - $25.9m

Scottie Scheffler won four times in 2022, including at Augusta National to wrap up The Masters and his maiden Major title. He also shot up the rankings to become World No.1 for the spring/summer before losing it to Rory McIlroy later in the year. Other wins came at the Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Match Play. His on-course earnings were around $14.6m, with additional money coming from the FedEx Cup ($5.75m) and PGA Tour PIP ($5.5m).

• PGA Tour: $14.65m
• FedEx Cup: $5.75m
• PIP: $5.5m

4. Cameron Smith - $18.4m

The Aussie is another Major winner to have been offered a reported $100m+ to join LIV, but once again we won't be counting that. Smith won just over $10m on the PGA Tour to finish second in the season money list, $640,000 at the FedEx Cup Playoffs, $240,000 on the DP World Tour from his two events in Australia at the end of the year and $7.4m from LIV Golf, where he won the Chicago Invitational and finished second in the Team Championship finale. He also won the PGA Tour's flagship event, the Players Championship, where he pocketed a massive $3.6m winner's cheque.

• PGA Tour: $10.1m
• DP World Tour: $240k
• FedEx Cup: $640k
• LIV Golf: $7.4m

5. Branden Grace - $17.5m

Despite dropping to 179th in the world, we think that South Africa's Branden Grace was the fifth-highest-earning golfer in the world this year when it comes to on-course earnings. His rough total of $17.5m was made up of $16.6m won in LIV Golf, $800,000 on the PGA Tour and just shy of $100,000 on the DP World Tour. Grace won $8m for finishing second to Dustin Johnson in the LIV individual rankings and $4m for winning the Portland Invitational title. His team, Stinger GC, also won the inaugural event at the Centurion.

• PGA Tour: $800k
• DP World Tour: 100k
• LIV Golf: $16.6m

6. JUSTIN THOMAS - $17.1m

The American won his second Major and second PGA Championship in 2022, which was a very lucrative year. The PGA Championship prize money was $2.16m and in total JT won over $6.8m on the PGA Tour. He picked up a further $2.75m in the FedEx Cup bonus payouts and $7.5m in the PIP, where he finished fourth behind Woods, McIlroy and Spieth.

• PGA Tour: $6.8m
• FedEx Cup: $2.75m
• PIP: $7.5m

7. Xander Schauffele - $16.7m

Schauffele won the Travelers Championship and Scottish Open in successive weeks in the summer and took home around $16.7m in on-course earnings for the year. The Olympic gold medallist won $7.7m on the PGA Tour and then an extra $9m in FedEx Cup bonus money ($4m) and PIP cash - where he came 7th.

• PGA Tour: $7.7m
• FedEx Cup: $4m
• PIP: $5m

8. TIGER WOODS - $15m

The Big Cat returned to the Major scene in 2022, incredibly making the cut at The Masters just 14 months after his horrific car accident. That was the only Major he won money at, taking home around $45,000 for his efforts. He and son Charlie also took home a similar amount for their finish at the PNC Championship. Luckily for Woods, he unsurprisingly won the Player Impact Program to take his earnings to just over $15m this year.

• PGA Tour: $45k
• PIP: $15m

9. WILL ZALATORIS - $14.9m

The talented American finished runner-up at both the PGA Championship and US Open in what was a very lucrative year. He also won his first PGA Tour title at the FedEx St Jude Championship. He won $9.4m on the PGA Tour, finishing third on the money list behind Scheffler and Smith, and then only won $500,000 in the FedEx Cup Playoffs after pulling out injured - picking up the last-place money. Another $5m came his way via the PIP to take his year earnings close to $15m.

• PGA Tour: $9.4m
• FedEx Cup: $500k
• PIP: $5m

10. Jordan Spieth - $14.8m

The three-time Major winning Texan won the RBC Heritage the week after The Masters for PGA Tour title number 13. His earnings on the PGA Tour were just over $5m plus an $825,000 bonus at the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Spieth, one of the biggest names in the sport, finished 3rd in the Player Impact Program to take home another $9m.

• PGA Tour: $5m
• FedEx Cup: $825k
• PIP: $9m