While plenty changed (or remained frustratingly stagnant) in the world of golf during 2025, there continued to be an extraordinary amount of money on offer to those fighting it out at the top of the professional game.
Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour offered a record amount of prize money last year at more than $132 million. And yet, according to data from Sportico, not only did no female golfers make the top-100 highest-paid athletes last year, no female from any sport earned enough to be included.
The top-100 highest-paid athletes in the world during 2025 earned an estimated $6 billion in income and competed in just eight different sports – golf being one of them.
World soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo led the way with an incredible $260 million while the 100th-ranked athlete – British NBA talent OG Anunoby of the New York Knicks – banked a healthy $37.9 million in 2025. In between were six golfers, three fewer than in 2024.
There were no female sport stars inside the top-100 highest-paid athletes for 2025
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton and Collin Morikawa all scooped between $55m-$43m last year, but their income dipped considerably over the following 12 months and they were no longer on the list.
Of the remaining six, a couple of golfers have swapped in terms of the order while most have changed positions in terms of the top-100.
Leading the way for golf in 2025 was Jon Rahm. Per Sportico, the Spaniard earned an eye-watering $84.7 million before adding $16 million in endorsements to reach a grand total of $100.7 million.
According to the sports business title, many of the top LIV golfers received around half of their bonus payment for signing up front and another portion when they played their first event.
The remaining part of the signing bonus is reportedly paid out during the life of the contract, hence the significant boost in Rahm’s earnings after the total prize money he claimed in 2025.
The Legion XIII captain – who failed to win a tournament during this time but still claimed LIV Golf’s individual championship – earned around $4 million less than in 2024…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Latest from Golf Monthly…