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GOLF · THE 2000S

Golf prize money in the 2000s

53 careers centred on the decade, worth $1,084,928,586 between them and led by Phil Mickelson on $117,955,686.

A career is filed on its midpoint, so these are the golfers whose earning years sat in the 2000s rather than everybody who played a round in them. It is the earliest era this site holds enough golfers to rank. Together they hold 10.9% of every dollar this site holds for the sport.

WON IN ALL $1.08bn
AVERAGE CAREER $20.5m
CAREERS 53
PAST $10M 33
FROM THE MAJORS 11.7%

The twenty richest careers of the 2000s

Career prize money, whole career rather than the decade alone

53 careers

Phil Mickelson $118m Jim Furyk $77m Vijay Singh $75m Ernie Els $53m Davis Love III $51m Steve Stricker $49m David Toms $44m Retief Goosen $34m Fred Couples $32m Jerry Kelly $31m Stuart Appleby $30m Mike Weir $29m Robert Allenby $29m Chad Campbell $28m Fred Funk $24m Tom Lehman $24m Bob Estes $22m Freddie Jacobson $20m Tim Herron $20m John Rollins $19m

The bar is the whole career, because that is the figure a reader is looking for when they arrive at a name.

Where a 2000s career's money came from

Every dollar these 53 golfers were paid, by source

Four sources

  • Tour purses 80.8%
  • The four majors 11.7%
  • Bonus pools 6.3%
  • LIV Golf 1.1%

Against the sport as a whole, where purses are 66.6%, the majors 9.4%, bonus pools 10.5% and LIV 13.5%. The majors are the four weeks everyone outside golf can name and they are a tenth of the money, because a season is forty-odd other tournaments and all of them pay.

The three eras side by side

What a career was worth, by when it happened

3 eras

Era Careers Average Majors share Richest Won in all
The 2000s 53 $20.5m 11.7% Phil Mickelson $1,084,928,586$1.08bn
The 2010s 320 $15.2m 9.1% Rory McIlroy $4,861,763,987$4.86bn
The 2020s 553 $7.3m 9.1% Scottie Scheffler $4,030,586,981$4.03bn

The average is the era's answer to what a professional golfing life was worth, and it is the number that has moved.

Every 2000s career

Ranked by career prize money

53 careers

# Player Seasons Span Majors All-time rank Career prize money
001 Phil Mickelson United States 35 1992 to 2026 21.0% 6 $117,955,686$118.0m
002 Jim Furyk United States 30 1993 to 2022 13.2% 24 $76,509,675$76.5m
003 Vijay Singh Fiji 31 1992 to 2026 10.4% 26 $74,912,344$74.9m
004 Ernie Els South Africa 31 1991 to 2023 25.4% 42 $53,210,447$53.2m
005 Davis Love III United States 36 1986 to 2022 10.2% 49 $50,950,420$51.0m
006 Steve Stricker United States 32 1990 to 2023 11.3% 52 $49,356,264$49.4m
007 David Toms United States 28 1989 to 2019 9.9% 65 $43,751,909$43.8m
008 Retief Goosen South Africa 25 1995 to 2021 21.5% 90 $33,664,554$33.7m
009 Fred Couples United States 38 1981 to 2023 14.4% 93 $32,055,351$32.1m
010 Jerry Kelly United States 27 1995 to 2023 4.3% 97 $31,152,126$31.2m
011 Stuart Appleby Australia 24 1996 to 2019 8.2% 98 $30,349,186$30.3m
012 Mike Weir Canada 27 1993 to 2023 15.0% 100 $29,409,329$29.4m
013 Robert Allenby Australia 27 1993 to 2019 6.9% 103 $29,113,503$29.1m
014 Chad Campbell United States 23 1998 to 2020 9.1% 108 $27,869,097$27.9m
015 Fred Funk United States 33 1982 to 2021 5.5% 123 $23,805,757$23.8m
016 Tom Lehman United States 26 1983 to 2019 11.7% 124 $23,751,894$23.8m
017 Bob Estes United States 29 1988 to 2018 6.1% 134 $21,920,962$21.9m
018 Freddie Jacobson Sweden 18 1998 to 2019 7.1% 148 $19,671,468$19.7m
019 Tim Herron United States 26 1995 to 2020 4.7% 151 $19,521,414$19.5m
020 John Rollins United States 20 1999 to 2019 1.8% 153 $18,504,953$18.5m
021 Jay Haas United States 32 1980 to 2022 11.0% 166 $16,296,477$16.3m
022 Mark Wilson United States 20 1999 to 2018 0.5% 177 $14,757,396$14.8m
023 Paul Goydos United States 23 1993 to 2022 1.7% 200 $12,888,210$12.9m
024 Bernhard Langer Germany 38 1981 to 2021 25.8% 201 $12,886,601$12.9m
025 José María Olazábal Spain 27 1987 to 2024 31.3% 202 $12,847,788$12.8m
026 Ángel Cabrera Argentina 20 1997 to 2018 48.2% 205 $12,541,282$12.5m
027 Tim Petrovic United States 19 1989 to 2017 1.6% 208 $12,345,930$12.3m
028 John Daly United States 29 1989 to 2019 9.0% 212 $12,048,013$12.0m
029 Bryce Molder United States 14 2001 to 2017 1.6% 221 $11,290,630$11.3m
030 Ken Duke United States 17 1996 to 2019 3.5% 229 $10,870,211$10.9m
031 Jonathan Kaye United States 18 1995 to 2019 1.9% 233 $10,675,208$10.7m
032 Charlie Wi South Korea 16 1998 to 2019 2.4% 242 $10,289,599$10.3m
033 Carlos Franco Paraguay 15 1997 to 2020 5.4% 247 $10,030,843$10.0m
034 Cameron Beckman United States 21 1997 to 2018 0.1% 250 $9,889,483$9.9m
035 Peter Lonard Australia 15 1997 to 2017 6.5% 254 $9,655,081$9.7m
036 Shaun Micheel United States 21 1994 to 2018 23.3% 259 $9,515,761$9.5m
037 Olin Browne United States 19 1992 to 2018 3.5% 269 $9,028,071$9.0m
038 Greg Owen England 14 2000 to 2017 3.0% 279 $8,312,386$8.3m
039 Ted Purdy United States 17 1998 to 2020 3.7% 289 $7,513,620$7.5m
040 Jason Gore United States 17 1999 to 2019 0.8% 300 $6,844,532$6.8m
041 Neal Lancaster United States 23 1990 to 2018 2.1% 309 $6,431,368$6.4m
042 Dicky Pride United States 28 1993 to 2020 0.7% 321 $5,942,806$5.9m
043 Michael Bradley United States 26 1988 to 2018 1.4% 325 $5,766,754$5.8m
044 Jay Don Blake United States 20 1987 to 2018 2.4% 327 $5,680,092$5.7m
045 Craig Barlow United States 16 1998 to 2017 1.4% 333 $5,311,816$5.3m
046 Chris Smith United States 19 1993 to 2017 1.6% 339 $5,105,596$5.1m
047 Tag Ridings United States 14 2001 to 2017 0.0% 352 $4,771,032$4.8m
048 Chris Couch United States 15 1997 to 2020 0.0% 362 $4,403,140$4.4m
049 Omar Uresti United States 24 1994 to 2022 1.1% 376 $4,003,284$4.0m
050 Steve Allan Australia 14 1998 to 2018 1.9% 386 $3,690,318$3.7m
051 Shane Bertsch United States 16 1993 to 2017 0.0% 419 $2,623,120$2.6m
052 Jerry Smith United States 11 1988 to 2023 12.6% 430 $2,383,964$2.4m
053 Steven Alker New Zealand 8 1996 to 2017 12.7% 517 $851,835

What the tour paid out, 1999-00 to 2008-09

The seasons inside the decade, which is a different cut from the careers above

$1,449,977,647 across 10 seasons

$1,449,977,647 was paid out inside the decade itself, against $1,084,928,586 of career money on the careers filed here. The two disagree on purpose. A career crosses decades and this chart does not, so a golfer counted in the 2000s above is also being paid in the seasons either side of this window.

The 2000s by country

Careers centred on the decade, grouped by the flag on the entry

13 countries

United States $733m South Africa $87m
Fiji $75m
Australia $73m Canada $29m Sweden $20m Germany $13m Spain $13m Argentina $13m South Korea $10m Paraguay $10m England $8.3m New Zealand $852k

Frequently asked questions

Who earned the most golf prize money in the 2000s?

Phil Mickelson, $117,955,686 across a career running 1992 to 2026.

How much did a 2000s golf career pay?

$20,470,351 on average across the 53 careers centred on the decade, and $12,345,930 at the midpoint. 52 of them passed a million dollars and 33 passed ten million.

What share of 2000s golf money came from the majors?

11.7%. Regular tour purses paid 80.8% and bonus pools 6.3%, with LIV Golf on 1.1%.

Which country produced the richest 2000s golfers?

United States, $733,492,022 across 37 of the 53 careers on this page.

How much did the tour pay out in the 2000s?

$1,449,977,647 across the 10 seasons from 1999-00 to 2008-09. That is a different figure from the $1,084,928,586 above, which is whole careers rather than a window of seasons.

Where to next

The eras either side, and the seasons inside this one

Golf in the 2010s

By era

Seasons in this decade

The 2000s top sixty

Elsewhere in golf