An incredible figure. It seemed unthinkable just four years ago. However, after his victory at The Players, Rory McIlroy has now caught up with Tiger Woods in the total historical earnings lists between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. Incredible, but true. The sum seemed unattainable, but if anyone could catch up, it was Rory. He did it precisely on the day he entered the select club of players who have won multiple Majors and The Players (Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler, and now Rory). Quite something.
In recent hours, the news has been that Rory had surpassed Phil Mickelson in the historical earnings list on the PGA Tour. By winning the tournament and pocketing a whopping 4.5 million dollars, the Northern Irishman has a career total of $99,709,062 compared to Phil’s $96,685,635. In this list, Rory is now second only behind Tiger, who holds the circuit record at $120,999,166.
If we go a bit further, at Ten Golf and exclusively, it can be reported that with this triumph, Rory McIlroy has already surpassed the total earnings Tiger Woods has had between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour throughout his career. The Northern Irishman is now the highest-earning player in history across both circuits.
The calculations have not been simple. On the one hand, on the PGA Tour, the numbers were clear: Tiger’s 120.9 million compared to the 99.7 million of this week’s champion at TPC Sawgrass. A difference exceeding 21 million dollars. On the DP World Tour, the calculator was not as easy since in the total money list of the European circuit, you have to exclude earnings from the Majors, the World Golf Championships, and the Genesis Scottish Open (co-sanctioned tournament since 2022) as they are also counted on the PGA Tour to avoid double counting.
Additionally, it should be noted that bonuses players receive at the end of the season after the Tour Championship are not counted here, nor the additional extra that the top ten in the Comcast ranking receive at the end of the regular PGA Tour season. They do not count for official purposes, just as earnings from the Hero World Challenge do not count.
After crunching all the numbers year by year and converting euros to dollars as of 18 March 2025, Rory has earned a total of 28,596,830.13 dollars on the DP World Tour, while Tiger ‘only’ totals 4,664,319.70.
Therefore, once both circuits are broken down, we see that Tiger totals 125,663,485.7$ (120,999,166 from the PGA Tour plus 4,664,319.70 from the DP World Tour) while Rory already has 128,305,892.13 (28,596,830.13 from the DP World Tour). He now surpasses him by exactly 2,642,406.43$. That is, at the moment he secured the playoff at TPC Sawgrass, he became the highest-earning player in golf history when considering both circuits. JJ Spaun pocketed 2.7 million yesterday.
Obviously, this total earnings figure should be put in parentheses. Golf prizes have skyrocketed in the last three seasons due to prize increases following the appearance of LIV Golf. If Tiger at his peak had had the current purses, he would logically have much more money, but the numbers are the numbers, and Rory is now the highest-earning player between the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.
Rory now has another mission, another challenge ahead, and that is to catch up with Tiger also at the top of the PGA Tour Money list. 21.2 million separate them. All indications are that Rory will surpass him sooner rather than later, but if we set Rory the task of trying to surpass him this year, the challenge becomes much more complicated (we insist that the current 25 million purse of the Tour Championship does not count for these purposes). After Tiger’s injury, it’s clear that the Cypress native will not be able to add more earnings on the golf course in 2025.
The mission is very complicated, not impossible, but close. To understand how difficult it is, McIlroy would not be enough to match what Scottie Scheffler did from last year’s The Players to the end of the season. Winning the Masters, three designated events (Memorial, RBC Heritage, and Travelers) plus two second places and another three top tens. The World Number One pocketed 18.5 million. He also won the Games and the Tour Championship, but they do not count for these purposes. Rory needs 21.2 million to reach Woods. It would not be enough.
As a curiosity and as long as the Majors maintain the current prize purse, it would not be enough to win all four Majors in one season, as they are not the tournaments that distribute the most money. With the 2024 figures, the Majors distributed a total of 14.3 million to the winners of the four tournaments. He would fall far short of the 21 he needs.
So, in what scenario would Rory surpass Tiger on the PGA Tour list? If we count only victories, the Northern Irishman would have to win the US Open and the Masters, which are the majors that distribute the most to date (4.3 and 3.6 million to the winner respectively) + three designated events (four remain in play) + a post-season playoff. With that, he would add 22.3 million dollars and surpass Tiger by just over a million. Here the combinations can also vary. If instead of the Masters, it’s any other major, it would also work. Or if, for example, he wins the remaining four designated events, he would not need a playoff victory.
The tightest combination would be winning the Masters and the US Open, two designated events like the Heritage and the Truist, plus the Genesis Scottish Open and the Zurich Classic he won last year plus a playoff. With that, he would add 21.4 million. Two hundred thousand more than he needs. Logically, winning fewer and depending on what he does in other tournaments would suffice, but he would have to add a lot.
Therefore, he would need an extraordinary season with at least eight victories in total. It is not impossible. Scottie won nine just a few months ago, but the task is enormous.
However, Rory should not be too confident because behind him is a Scottie Scheffler who has accumulated 74 million in earnings only on the PGA Tour and is seven years younger than the Northern Irishman. The Texan will probably end up catching up, but only Rory will be able to say he was the first to reach the great Tiger Woods.
