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GOLF · 2008-09 SEASON

The 2008-09 golf money list

$228,760,200 won by 192 players in the 2008-09 season. Tiger Woods led it on $10,748,163.

The season is up 12.9% on 2007-08, and is the 18th biggest of the 47 seasons we hold. It is 2.3% of every dollar the tour has paid the golfers we hold, and the four majors accounted for 9.4% of it.

PAID OUT $228.8m
TOP EARNER $10.7m
PLAYERS PAID 192
OVER $1M 83
FROM THE MAJORS 9.4%

The twenty biggest earners of 2008-09

Prize money won across the season

192 players paid

Tiger Woods $11m Steve Stricker $6.9m Phil Mickelson $6.5m Jim Furyk $5.3m Zach Johnson $5.1m Sean O'Hair $5.1m Lucas Glover $4.5m Y.E. Yang $4.0m Geoff Ogilvy $4.0m Nick Watney $3.6m Stewart Cink $3.4m Retief Goosen $3.4m Brian Gay $3.3m Hunter Mahan $3.3m David Toms $3.2m Padraig Harrington $3.1m Dustin Johnson $3.1m Ian Poulter $3.1m Henrik Stenson $3.0m Jerry Kelly $3.0m

Where the 2008-09 money came from

Every dollar on this list, by what paid it

Three sources

  • Tour purses 81.9%
  • The four majors 9.4%
  • Bonus pools 8.7%
  • LIV Golf 0.0%

LIV Golf did not exist in 2008-09 and pays nothing into this season. It first paid anybody in 2021-22, and it has taken about a third of the sport's money every season since.

What the top ten did the season before

2008-09 against 2007-08

2007-08 comparison

# Player 2007-08 rank 2007-08 2008-09
01 Tiger Woods 02 $5.9m $10,748,163$10.7m
02 Steve Stricker 12 $3.4m $6,897,636$6.9m
03 Phil Mickelson 03 $5.4m $6,532,755$6.5m
04 Jim Furyk 07 $4.3m $5,296,515$5.3m
05 Zach Johnson 41 $1.7m $5,101,062$5.1m
06 Sean O'Hair 30 $2.1m $5,092,993$5.1m
07 Lucas Glover 80 $998k $4,467,580$4.5m
08 Y.E. Yang 107 $487k $3,999,516$4.0m
09 Geoff Ogilvy 16 $2.9m $3,965,841$4.0m
10 Nick Watney 88 $878k $3,605,421$3.6m

A blank in the 2007-08 column is a player we hold no money for that season, which is usually a rookie year or a year out. Golf money moves harder than a salary does, because none of it is contracted: a player earns what the leaderboard says and nothing else.

The full 2008-09 golf money list

Every player we hold a 2008-09 prize figure for

192 players

# Player Tour purses Majors Bonuses Career rank 2008-09
001 Tiger Woods United States $9.2m $1.3m $240k 5 $10,748,163$10.7m
002 Steve Stricker United States $6.0m $338k $565k 52 $6,897,636$6.9m
003 Phil Mickelson United States $4.5m $874k $1.2m 6 $6,532,755$6.5m
004 Jim Furyk United States $3.7m $288k $1.4m 24 $5,296,515$5.3m
005 Zach Johnson United States $4.5m $172k $386k 39 $5,101,062$5.1m
006 Sean O'Hair United States $4.0m $294k $777k 107 $5,092,993$5.1m
007 Lucas Glover United States $2.0m $1.6m $775k 61 $4,467,580$4.5m
008 Y.E. Yang South Korea $2.1m $1.4m $510k 252 $3,999,516$4.0m
009 Geoff Ogilvy Australia $3.7m $180k $100k 96 $3,965,841$4.0m
010 Nick Watney United States $3.1m $153k $384k 95 $3,605,421$3.6m
011 Stewart Cink United States $1.5m $1.3m $622k 57 $3,442,780$3.4m
012 Retief Goosen South Africa $2.8m $394k $200k 90 $3,432,221$3.4m
013 Brian Gay United States $3.2m $139k 118 $3,340,128$3.3m
014 Hunter Mahan United States $2.4m $527k $370k 82 $3,311,349$3.3m
015 David Toms United States $3.0m $32k $150k 65 $3,197,198$3.2m
016 Padraig Harrington Ireland $2.4m $205k $511k 94 $3,139,710$3.1m
017 Dustin Johnson United States $2.7m $236k $91k 4 $3,069,151$3.1m
018 Ian Poulter England $2.2m $253k $629k 56 $3,060,334$3.1m
019 Henrik Stenson Sweden $2.0m $544k $462k 55 $3,012,685$3.0m
020 Jerry Kelly United States $2.6m $411k 97 $2,974,148$3.0m
021 Ángel Cabrera Argentina $1.2m $1.4m $300k 205 $2,925,472$2.9m
022 Ernie Els South Africa $1.8m $380k $775k 42 $2,922,157$2.9m
023 Rory Sabbatini Slovakia $2.7m $85k $104k 74 $2,856,624$2.9m
024 Paul Casey England $2.5m $93k $183k 28 $2,764,681$2.8m
025 Matt Kuchar United States $2.5m $249k 31 $2,738,693$2.7m
026 Kevin Na United States $2.7m $21k 40 $2,724,825$2.7m
027 Ryan Moore United States $2.1m $155k $430k 83 $2,652,871$2.7m
028 Justin Leonard United States $2.1m $161k $312k 80 $2,544,044$2.5m
029 Mike Weir Canada $2.2m $176k $162k 100 $2,541,922$2.5m
030 John Senden Australia $2.3m 133 $2,305,492$2.3m
031 John Rollins United States $2.2m $53k 153 $2,269,475$2.3m
032 Jason Dufner United States $2.2m $45k 99 $2,235,792$2.2m
033 Camilo Villegas Colombia $1.5m $297k $424k 115 $2,228,814$2.2m
034 Steve Marino United States $2.1m $31k $35k 237 $2,196,539$2.2m
035 Heath Slocum United States $2.2m 164 $2,195,565$2.2m
036 Luke Donald England $1.9m $310k 69 $2,174,947$2.2m
037 Robert Allenby Australia $1.8m $104k $216k 103 $2,106,946$2.1m
038 Graeme McDowell Northern Ireland $240k $405k $1.3m 63 $1,985,516$2.0m
039 Chad Campbell United States $1.0m $681k $247k 108 $1,971,904$2.0m
040 Bo Van Pelt United States $1.9m 121 $1,945,307$1.9m
041 Charley Hoffman United States $1.9m 76 $1,894,925$1.9m
042 Brian Davis England $1.9m 183 $1,874,318$1.9m
043 Charles Howell III United States $1.8m $50k 21 $1,854,460$1.9m
044 Mark Wilson United States $1.8m 177 $1,838,414$1.8m
045 Pat Perez United States $1.7m $100k 50 $1,819,932$1.8m
046 Marc Leishman Australia $1.7m 27 $1,742,243$1.7m
047 Davis Love III United States $1.6m $48k $54k 49 $1,676,151$1.7m
048 Ben Crane United States $1.6m $21k 128 $1,667,085$1.7m
049 Brandt Snedeker United States $1.5m $157k 60 $1,640,557$1.6m
050 Paul Goydos United States $1.6m $29k 200 $1,619,918$1.6m
051 Tim Petrovic United States $1.6m 208 $1,551,866$1.6m
052 Lee Westwood England $131k $954k $450k 70 $1,535,414$1.5m
053 J.B. Holmes United States $1.1m $72k $307k 110 $1,526,701$1.5m
054 Bubba Watson United States $1.3m $130k $90k 30 $1,520,244$1.5m
055 George McNeill United States $1.4m $70k 207 $1,509,220$1.5m
056 John Merrick United States $1.0m $393k $64k 265 $1,502,892$1.5m
057 Troy Matteson United States $1.5m 260 $1,466,070$1.5m
058 Charlie Wi South Korea $1.4m $16k $64k 242 $1,439,096$1.4m
059 Boo Weekley United States $993k $115k $320k 162 $1,426,948$1.4m
060 Bill Haas United States $1.4m 92 $1,425,418$1.4m
061 Martin Laird Scotland $1.3m $37k 127 $1,385,854$1.4m
062 Bryce Molder United States $1.4m $26k 221 $1,381,211$1.4m
063 Fred Couples United States $1.2m $32k $160k 93 $1,357,971$1.4m
064 D.A. Points United States $1.3m 211 $1,320,021
065 Jonathan Byrd United States $1.3m 142 $1,316,771
066 Sergio Garcia Spain $994k $219k $87k 10 $1,299,522
067 Vijay Singh Fiji $1.0m $240k 26 $1,276,815
068 Jason Day Australia $1.3m 25 $1,251,219
069 Webb Simpson United States $1.2m 53 $1,249,674
070 Justin Rose England $971k $154k $100k 17 $1,225,518
071 Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland $167k $683k $363k 1 $1,212,219
072 Freddie Jacobson Sweden $1.2m $16k 148 $1,189,995
073 Vaughn Taylor United States $1.2m 150 $1,178,282
074 J.J. Henry United States $1.1m $15k 161 $1,161,641
075 Jason Bohn United States $1.2m 168 $1,159,936
076 Francesco Molinari Italy $15k $290k $850k 146 $1,154,368
077 Greg Chalmers Australia $1.1m $40k 223 $1,098,620
078 Bob Estes United States $1.1m $13k 134 $1,079,929
079 D.J. Trahan United States $1.1m $26k 218 $1,078,256
080 Scott Piercy United States $1.0m 117 $1,032,716
081 Alex Cejka Germany $954k $64k 184 $1,017,664
082 Kevin Streelman United States $1.0m 105 $1,007,444
083 Rod Pampling Australia $957k $45k 163 $1,001,897
084 K.J. Choi South Korea $888k $81k 89 $968,506
085 Kevin Stadler United States $926k 251 $925,514
086 Daniel Chopra Sweden $814k $50k 276 $864,331
087 Ted Purdy United States $839k 289 $838,707
088 Aaron Baddeley Australia $721k $116k 122 $837,065
089 Bill Lunde United States $826k 385 $825,691
090 Ryuji Imada Japan $618k $88k $115k 258 $821,394
091 James Driscoll United States $808k 323 $807,578
092 Ross Fisher England $44k $500k $245k 416 $789,797
093 Andres Romero Argentina $660k $129k 253 $789,305
094 Adam Scott Australia $740k $43k 19 $783,138
095 Greg Owen England $764k 279 $763,517
096 Chris Stroud United States $735k 192 $735,019
097 Michael Bradley United States $728k 325 $727,788
098 Cameron Beckman United States $727k 250 $726,705
099 Stuart Appleby Australia $500k $63k $150k 98 $712,837
100 Richard Johnson Sweden $540k $147k 310 $687,077
101 Ricky Barnes United States $125k $560k 257 $684,863
102 Martin Kaymer Germany $183k $271k $227k 119 $681,157
103 Rickie Fowler United States $571k $108k 29 $678,590
104 Rich Beem United States $656k $21k 246 $676,899
105 Nicholas Thompson United States $675k 326 $675,178
106 Jimmy Walker United States $663k 104 $662,683
107 Will MacKenzie United States $660k 282 $659,686
108 Robert Garrigus United States $657k 169 $657,204
109 Matt Jones Australia $593k $35k 77 $628,313
110 Tim Herron United States $620k $5k 151 $624,843
111 Carl Pettersson Sweden $522k $43k 126 $564,605
112 Brendon de Jonge Zimbabwe $537k $26k 210 $562,946
113 Spencer Levin United States $531k $25k 278 $556,240
114 Tom Lehman United States $456k $59k 124 $515,450
115 Trevor Immelman South Africa $324k $71k $100k 188 $495,244
116 Chez Reavie United States $478k 125 $477,766
117 Ryan Palmer United States $455k 85 $454,510
118 Jamie Lovemark United States $454k 306 $453,872
119 Johnson Wagner United States $435k 204 $434,571
120 Chris Wood England $428k 502 $428,442
121 Jason Gore United States $409k $5k 300 $413,811
122 Ken Duke United States $344k $39k $5k 229 $387,826
123 Danny Lee New Zealand $360k $27k 173 $387,346
124 Casey Wittenberg United States $376k $5k 484 $381,076
125 Tag Ridings United States $364k 352 $363,597
126 Peter Lonard Australia $334k 254 $333,825
127 Jonathan Kaye United States $327k $5k 233 $332,408
128 Søren Kjeldsen Denmark $281k $34k 397 $314,919
129 Tim Wilkinson New Zealand $297k 361 $297,008
130 Parker McLachlin United States $275k 421 $275,033
131 Shaun Micheel United States $258k $5k 259 $262,590
132 José María Olazábal Spain $240k 202 $239,629
133 Oliver Wilson England $12k $217k 525 $229,273
134 Dicky Pride United States $203k $5k 321 $207,580
135 Brendon Todd United States $204k 144 $203,841
136 Kevin Chappell United States $197k 155 $197,488
137 Omar Uresti United States $167k $25k 376 $191,649
138 Scott Gutschewski United States $183k $5k 449 $188,375
139 Colt Knost United States $181k 364 $180,754
140 Thomas Aiken South Africa $147k 508 $147,172
141 Tommy Gainey United States $128k $5k 324 $133,347
142 Kyle Stanley United States $132k 159 $132,039
143 Derek Fathauer United States $125k 403 $125,305
144 Gary Woodland United States $94k $27k 67 $121,031
145 Fred Funk United States $17k $20k $78k 123 $114,426
146 Neal Lancaster United States $70k $26k 309 $96,024
147 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño Spain $9k $62k $21k 431 $91,617
148 Eric Axley United States $83k 402 $83,152
149 Charl Schwartzel South Africa $56k $21k 46 $76,741
150 Arjun Atwal India $77k 331 $76,676
151 Chris Smith United States $71k 339 $71,425
152 John Daly United States $21k $48k 212 $68,815
153 Graham DeLaet Canada $14k $48k 220 $61,872
154 Carlos Franco Paraguay $60k 247 $60,261
155 Derek Lamely United States $58k 472 $58,188
156 Chris Couch United States $57k 362 $56,665
157 Troy Merritt United States $50k 171 $50,000
158 Hugo León Chile $40k 741 $40,000
159 Jhonattan Vegas Venezuela $40k 130 $40,000
160 Tano Goya Argentina $9k $29k 543 $38,364
161 Martin Flores United States $30k 340 $30,000
162 Erik Compton United States $28k 367 $27,524
163 Ryo Ishikawa Japan $11k $16k 342 $26,217
164 Branden Grace South Africa $26k 38 $25,539
165 Billy Horschel United States $25k 51 $25,000
166 Brian Stuard United States $25k 209 $25,000
167 Cameron Tringale United States $25k 84 $25,000
168 Chris Wilson United States $25k 690 $25,000
169 Shane Bertsch United States $25k 419 $25,000
170 Tyler Aldridge United States $24k 542 $24,370
171 Martin Piller United States $23k 464 $22,570
172 Hideto Tanihara Japan $22k 465 $21,600
173 Bobby Gates United States $15k $5k 469 $20,177
174 Steve Wheatcroft United States $15k $5k 407 $19,907
175 Olin Browne United States $18k 269 $17,712
176 Luke List United States $13k $5k 154 $17,600
177 Chris Kirk United States $12k $5k 75 $16,651
178 José de Jesús Rodríguez Mexico $14k 575 $14,400
179 Steve Allan Australia $14k 386 $13,671
180 Louis Oosthuizen South Africa $13k 35 $12,660
181 Craig Barlow United States $11k 333 $11,271
182 Andres Gonzales United States $11k 427 $10,965
183 Andrew Svoboda United States $5k 461 $5,000
184 Brendan Steele United States $5k 140 $5,000
185 Garrett Osborn United States $5k 657 $5,000
186 James Hahn United States $5k 197 $5,000
187 Keegan Bradley United States $5k 32 $5,000
188 Kevin Kisner United States $5k 86 $5,000
189 Mark Anderson United States $5k 473 $5,000
190 Rob Oppenheim United States $5k 451 $5,000
191 Scott Brown United States $5k 226 $5,000
192 Scott Stallings United States $5k 149 $5,000

The career rank column is where each of these players sits on the all-time money list, which is the fastest way to tell a career year from a career. A player ranked well inside the top fifty on one season and nowhere near it overall had the year of his life.

2008-09 against every other season

What the tour paid the golfers we hold, year by year

47 seasons

Who won it, by country

The 2008-09 money split by the flag on the entry

26 countries

# Country Players paid Top earner Won in 2008-09
01 United States 124 Tiger Woods $149,706,096$149.7m
02 Australia 13 Geoff Ogilvy $16,781,107$16.8m
03 England 10 Ian Poulter $14,846,241$14.8m
04 South Africa 7 Retief Goosen $7,111,734$7.1m
05 South Korea 3 Y.E. Yang $6,407,118$6.4m
06 Sweden 5 Henrik Stenson $6,318,693$6.3m
07 Argentina 3 Ángel Cabrera $3,753,141$3.8m
08 Northern Ireland 2 Graeme McDowell $3,197,735$3.2m
09 Ireland 1 Padraig Harrington $3,139,710$3.1m
10 Slovakia 1 Rory Sabbatini $2,856,624$2.9m
11 Canada 2 Mike Weir $2,603,794$2.6m
12 Colombia 1 Camilo Villegas $2,228,814$2.2m
13 Germany 2 Alex Cejka $1,698,821$1.7m
14 Spain 3 Sergio Garcia $1,630,768$1.6m
15 Scotland 1 Martin Laird $1,385,854$1.4m
16 Fiji 1 Vijay Singh $1,276,815
17 Italy 1 Francesco Molinari $1,154,368
18 Japan 3 Ryuji Imada $869,211
19 New Zealand 2 Danny Lee $684,354
20 Zimbabwe 1 Brendon de Jonge $562,946
21 Denmark 1 Søren Kjeldsen $314,919
22 India 1 Arjun Atwal $76,676
23 Paraguay 1 Carlos Franco $60,261
24 Chile 1 Hugo León $40,000
25 Venezuela 1 Jhonattan Vegas $40,000

Frequently asked questions

Who won the most prize money in golf in 2008-09?

Tiger Woods, $10,748,163. That is 4.7% of everything the 192 players on this list won that season.

How much prize money did golf pay out in 2008-09?

$228,760,200 to 192 players. The season is up 12.9% on 2007-08, and is the 18th biggest of the 47 seasons we hold.

How many golfers won a million dollars in 2008-09?

83 of the 192 paid that season.

What share of 2008-09 golf money came from the majors?

9.4%. Regular tour purses paid 81.9%, bonus pools 8.7%.

Which country won the most golf prize money in 2008-09?

United States, $149,706,096 across 124 players, out of 26 countries paid that season.

Where to next

The seasons either side, the eras and the 2008-09 field

The 2007-08 money list · The 2009-10 money list

Every season

By era

The 2008-09 top sixty

Elsewhere in golf