| The $800 million of opaque spending into men’s professional golf by a secretive regime has transformed the Golf Digest 50—our periodic look at the game’s highest earners—and made the data behind the rankings harder to parse. What happens when a league makes direct payments, as LIV did for a cavalcade of players like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith and Brooks Koepka? What happens when the economics of funding the ultimate cash-burning startup turns pro golf’s payroll on its head?
Golf Digest spoke with multiple agents representing players on every major professional tour, both on the record and off, to better understand this most peculiar year. Check out our analysis of how LIV Golf’s spending spree has disrupted the path to the top of the Golf Digest 50.
As for the list itself—which covers the calendar year 2022—we combined information from official sources, previously reported information, data from aggregators like Spotrac and estimates from dozens of players, agents and industry insiders. How does Mickelson’s lucrative signing bonus stack up against the more traditional success of Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler? Check out our complete list of the game’s highest earners, here. |
