“When did golf become all about money,” was what my partner asked me while we were watching Viktor Hovland‘s Tour Championship and FedEx Cup triumph at the weekend.
Hovland dominated the Tour Championship to win the FedEx Cup and take home the $18m prize money, coming just a week after his $3.6m win at the BMW Championship.
Professional golfers at the top level have always earned the big bucks but the money on offer right now is truly eye-watering.
Hovland had made $12.6m on the PGA Tour between turning pro in 2019 and the end of the 2022 season but pocketed $21.6m in the space of eight days this month.
This season alone he has earned $14.1m in regular winnings plus the $18m FedEx Cup bonus, taking his earnings for the campaign to over $32m.
We haven’t even got to the Player Impact Program yet either, where $100m is set to be dished out to the tour’s biggest names.
Hovland is one of the game’s top stars and looks set to challenge for the World No.1 spot next year if his form continues, but earning over $32m on-course in a year that didn’t even feature a Major victory shows just how lucrative men’s elite golf is right now.
This is to take nothing away from Viktor. He’s had an incredible season, where he has won three times and truly elevated his game. The 25-year-old challenged Brooks Koepka the whole way at the PGA Championship in May, where he finished T2nd, and he will be among the favorites at golf’s big four events in 2024.
After already winning over $14m this season, Hovland admitted that he didn’t really need the money in a week that featured plenty of talk online and on TV of the cash being won at East Lake.
“Obviously it’s a lot of cash you’re playing for,” he said. “I mean, it’s in the back of your mind. But I live in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Money goes a long ways there. It’s not like I’m spending money out the wazoo every week. I don’t need a lot to be happy. I don’t need a lot to live within my means.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“So obviously it’s nice for my family to have that protection and my, you know, eventual kids, that I’ll have in the future. It’s nice to have that, but it’s not something that drives me, it’s not something that gives me…
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