South Africa prize money
South Africa's sportspeople have won £309,422,973 in prize money across 17 sports, which puts South Africa 6th of the 168 nations on our prize money by nation table. Louis Oosthuizen has won the most, £46,375,939 in golf .
South Africa's highest earners
The top 60 of 179 people, every sport together
| # | NAME | SPORT | PRIZE MONEY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louis Oosthuizen | Golf | £46,375,939£46.4m |
| 2 | Branden Grace | Golf | £41,180,634£41.2m |
| 3 | Ernie Els | Golf | £39,415,146£39.4m |
| 4 | Charl Schwartzel | Golf | £38,282,362£38.3m |
| 5 | Dean Burmester | Golf | £27,248,254£27.2m |
| 6 | Retief Goosen | Golf | £24,936,707£24.9m |
| 7 | Kevin Anderson | Tennis | £13,183,202£13.2m |
| 8 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | Golf | £10,635,685£10.6m |
| 9 | Trevor Immelman | Golf | £10,201,059£10.2m |
| 10 | Erik van Rooyen | Golf | £8,472,692£8.5m |
| 11 | Wayne Ferreira | Tennis | £7,384,901£7.4m |
| 12 | Garrick Higgo | Golf | £5,583,854£5.6m |
| 13 | Dylan Frittelli | Golf | £5,252,447£5.3m |
| 14 | Aldrich Potgieter | Golf | £3,677,150£3.7m |
| 15 | Lloyd Harris | Tennis | £3,509,481£3.5m |
| 16 | Raven Klaasen | Tennis | £2,962,271£3.0m |
| 17 | Tyrone Van Aswegen | Golf | £2,472,960£2.5m |
| 18 | Jordy Smith | Surfing | £2,253,130£2.3m |
| 19 | Justin Harding | Golf | £1,401,169£1.4m |
| 20 | Christo Van Rensburg | Tennis | £1,382,699£1.4m |
| 21 | Marcos Ondruska | Tennis | £1,359,395£1.4m |
| 22 | Thriston Lawrence | Golf | £1,346,394£1.3m |
| 23 | Gary Muller | Tennis | £1,067,893£1.1m |
| 24 | Danie Visser | Tennis | £1,026,644£1.0m |
| 25 | MJ Daffue | Golf | £973,967£974k |
| 26 | Grant Stafford | Tennis | £968,302£968k |
| 27 | Thomas Aiken | Golf | £746,213£746k |
| 28 | Shaun Norris | Golf | £740,599£741k |
| 29 | Matthew McGillivray | Surfing | £527,678£528k |
| 30 | Dawie van der Walt | Golf | £426,168£426k |
| 31 | Bianca Buitendag | Surfing | £405,370£405k |
| 32 | Travis Logie | Surfing | £342,593£343k |
| 33 | JC Ritchie | Golf | £315,004£315k |
| 34 | Brandon Stone | Golf | £254,635£255k |
| 35 | Caster Semenya | Athletics | £225,185£225k |
| 36 | Akani Simbine | Athletics | £202,593£203k |
| 37 | Matthew Sates | Swimming | £193,852£194k |
| 38 | Luvo Manyonga | Athletics | £136,667£137k |
| 39 | Sunette Viljoen | Athletics | £118,519£119k |
| 40 | Michael February | Surfing | £114,444£114k |
| 41 | Christo Lamprecht | Golf | £114,023£114k |
| 42 | Ruswahl Samaai | Athletics | £112,963£113k |
| 43 | Luke Thompson | Surfing | £98,704£99k |
| 44 | Jayden Trey Schaper | Golf | £95,070£95k |
| 45 | Godfrey Khotso Mokoena | Athletics | £83,704£84k |
| 46 | Stephen Coppinger | Squash | £82,372£82k |
| 47 | Wayde van Niekerk | Athletics | £81,481£81k |
| 48 | Prudence Sekgodiso | Athletics | £74,074£74k |
| 49 | L. J. van Zyl | Athletics | £67,778£68k |
| 50 | Alexandra Fuller | Squash | £65,623£66k |
| 51 | Rosy Hodge | Surfing | £64,815£65k |
| 52 | Zakithi Nene | Athletics | £62,778£63k |
| 53 | Chad le Clos | Swimming | £49,852£50k |
| 54 | Pieter Coetze | Swimming | £48,889£49k |
| 55 | Cornel Fredericks | Athletics | £44,444£44k |
| 56 | Royden Bryson | Surfing | £41,407£41k |
| 57 | Sinesipho Dambile | Athletics | £40,741£41k |
| 58 | Louis de Jager | Golf | £38,774£39k |
| 59 | Greg Emslie | Surfing | £38,444£38k |
| 60 | Ricky Basnett | Surfing | £38,296£38k |
The top 12, side by side
Louis Oosthuizen alone accounts for 15.0% of South Africa's total. The top ten between them hold 84.0%, and the other 169 share the rest.
Prize money by sport
Where South Africa's £309,422,973 came from
| SPORT | PRIZE MONEY | SHARE | EARNERS | TOP EARNER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golf | £270,192,798£270.2m | 87.3% | 25 | Louis Oosthuizen |
| Tennis | £32,844,787£32.8m | 10.6% | 9 | Kevin Anderson |
| Surfing | £4,114,030£4.1m | 1.3% | 27 | Jordy Smith |
| Athletics | £1,623,889£1.6m | 0.5% | 54 | Caster Semenya |
| Swimming | £312,593£313k | 0.1% | 6 | Matthew Sates |
| Squash | £181,893£182k | 0.1% | 10 | Stephen Coppinger |
| Pool | £27,300£27k | 0.0% | 10 | Richard Halliday |
| CrossFit | £25,741£26k | 0.0% | 6 | Jason Smith |
| Chess | £24,815£25k | 0.0% | 5 | Daniel Cawdery |
| Bowling | £21,833£22k | 0.0% | 1 | Francois Louw |
| Triathlon | £19,630£20k | 0.0% | 3 | Henri Schoeman |
| Trail running | £17,083£17k | 0.0% | 1 | Toni McCann |
| Gravel racing | £9,630£10k | 0.0% | 1 | Matthew Beers |
| Table tennis | £3,778£4k | 0.0% | 14 | Theo Cogill |
| Show jumping | £1,836£2k | 0.0% | 5 | Jason Slade |
| Sled dog racing | £777£777 | 0.0% | 1 | Gerhardt Thiart |
| Snooker | £562£562 | 0.0% | 1 | Peter Francisco |
The split between sports
Golf is South Africa's biggest earner at 87.3% of the total. We hold nobody from South Africa in badminton, biathlon, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, figure skating, motorsport, handball, gymnastics, rodeo, Enhanced Games, Go, curling, shogi, keirin, 3x3 basketball, fencing, speedway.
The nations either side of South Africa
South Africa is 6th of 168 on total prize money
| # | NATION | PRIZE MONEY | EARNERS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | £5,379,019,201£5.38bn | 8,674 |
| 2 | Australia | £659,607,300£659.6m | 611 |
| 3 | Spain | £654,130,068£654.1m | 361 |
| 4 | England | £556,423,790£556.4m | 501 |
| 5 | Japan | £387,926,884£387.9m | 1,096 |
| 6 | South Africa | £309,422,973£309.4m | 179 |
| 7 | France | £300,644,718£300.6m | 858 |
| 8 | Germany | £267,235,943£267.2m | 1,185 |
| 9 | Canada | £256,723,721£256.7m | 833 |
| 10 | Sweden | £251,582,668£251.6m | 503 |
| 11 | South Korea | £216,921,948£216.9m | 401 |
| 12 | Italy | £214,771,662£214.8m | 702 |
| 13 | Argentina | £201,445,368£201.4m | 129 |
| 14 | Northern Ireland | £201,197,690£201.2m | 17 |
| 15 | Serbia | £189,492,219£189.5m | 70 |
| 16 | Switzerland | £172,946,253£172.9m | 495 |
| 17 | Russia | £168,898,996£168.9m | 274 |
| 18 | Great Britain | £130,764,883£130.8m | 1,024 |
| 162 | North Korea | £2,392£2k | 3 |
| 163 | Maldives | £1,507£2k | 4 |
| 164 | North Cyprus | £1,280£1k | 2 |
| 165 | Somalia | £741£741 | 1 |
| 166 | American Samoa | £491£491 | 1 |
| 167 | Curaçao | £370£370 | 1 |
| 168 | Honduras | £156£156 | 1 |
South Africa against its neighbours
Frequently asked questions
How much prize money has South Africa won?
£309,422,973 across 179 people in 17 sports. That ranks South Africa 6th of the 168 nations we hold prize money for.
Who is South Africa's highest earning sportsperson?
Louis Oosthuizen, with £46,375,939 in golf prize money: 15.0% of everything South Africa has won. Next is Branden Grace on £41,180,634.
Which sport has earned South Africa the most prize money?
Golf, at £270,192,798 across 25 players, ahead of tennis on £32,844,787.
Which nation is just above South Africa?
Japan, 5th on £387,926,884. France is 7th, just below, on £300,644,718.
Where to next
Every nation is ranked on prize money by nation. South Africa's golf money has its own page: South Africa in golf.South Africa's tennis money has its own page: South Africa in tennis.South Africa's surfing money has its own page: South Africa in surfing.South Africa's athletics money has its own page: South Africa in athletics.South Africa's swimming money has its own page: South Africa in swimming.South Africa's squash money has its own page: South Africa in squash.South Africa's pool money has its own page: South Africa in pool.South Africa's CrossFit money has its own page: South Africa in CrossFit.South Africa's triathlon money has its own page: South Africa in triathlon.South Africa's table tennis money has its own page: South Africa in table tennis.South Africa's show jumping money has its own page: South Africa in show jumping. One place up is Japan. One place down is France.