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Tiger Woods, with 82 PGA Tour wins and 15 majors since 1996, spent three decades as golf’s biggest earner. Few can imagine another golfer matching his career earnings in a fraction of the time. Yet Jon Rahm has done that. In just over a decade as a professional golfer, the Spaniard has pushed his combined career earnings from the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and major championships above Tiger Woods’ lifetime total.

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Rahm’s career earnings currently sit at $187.8 million, according to Spotrac. Tiger Woods, who last competed in a professional event at the 2024 Championship, has earned $154.4 million in career earnings. That puts Rahm roughly $33.4 million ahead, a gap he built in under 11 years.

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Woods’ growing fortune hits a pause

Woods turned pro in August 1996. By 2006, he topped the PGA Tour money list with $9.94 million. It was a figure nobody could match then. By 2009, Woods had crossed $1 billion in overall career earnings, and by 2012, $100 million in PGA Tour career earnings.

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His earnings growth has stalled since 2024. Woods finished 60th at that year’s Masters and missed the cut in three of the four majors, including the Open Championship. Since then, he has had multiple surgeries and hasn’t played a single competitive round.

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According to Spotrac, his official PGA Tour career earnings currently stand at $126.2 million, with $28.2 million earned from majors alone.

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Jon Rahm’s growing career earnings

Jon Rahm turned pro in June 2016 and initially built his career on the PGA Tour. When he left for LIV Golf in December 2023, he had earned $77.1 million in official PGA Tour money, with $13.1 million from majors alone, per Spotrac.

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However, his performance on LIV Golf is where he started increasing his pay, too. Jon Rahm has earned $97.6 million on the Saudi-backed tour across three seasons. His LIV earnings have exceeded his entire PGA Tour career earnings combined. His 2024 season alone brought in $38.3 million ($16.3 million in official individual income, $21.5 million in team + bonus, and $500,000 in majors). Although he got $3 million less in official individual income in 2025, he earned $400,000 more in total cash. In 2026, the official individual income rose to $18 million, but the team bonus went down to $3 million because of consistent financial lapses, and his LIV total went down to $24.5 million.

Rahm closed out his 2026 season with a T-41 finish at LIV Golf New York on August 6. Despite the championship bonus dropping, he has earned prize money of $48,806,708, with bonuses of $42,000,000. Across 16 events between LIV Golf, PGA Tour, and majors, he won twice—at Hong Kong and Mexico City—each victory worth more than $4 million. Add that to a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship for $1.8 million. Overall, his career individual earnings from LIV have pushed him past $90 million.

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Joaquin Niemann sits second on the list

Another surprising name topping the list after Jon Rahm is Joaquin Niemann. He turned pro in 2018 and has spent four seasons on the PGA Tour before joining LIV Golf in August 2022. Niemann has won twice on the PGA Tour in that stretch. Overall, he left with $15.5 million in official PGA Tour earnings.

His numbers on LIV have also grown fast since. Niemann’s LIV Golf earnings stand at $86.1 million, and his major championship money adds another $2.6 million. That puts his career earnings at $104.2 million, comfortably on the Tour’s all-time list.

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Niemann has won nine times on LIV overall, including two wins in 2026—one in Korea and another at LIV Golf. His career bonus money sits at $20 million. Niemann competed in 14 LIV Golf events and three major championships in 2026.

Woods’ wealth extends beyond tournament earnings. Rahm and Niemann demonstrate how LIV Golf has accelerated career earnings.

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Written by

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Roshni Dhawan

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Roshni Dhawan is a Golf Writer at EssentiallySports, covering the financial and human side of the professional game. Her reporting centers on player earnings and tournament economics, from net-worth profiles of pros such as Sahith Theegala to the prize-money breakdown at the 2026 U.S. Open, alongside explainer features that introduce readers to the tour's lesser-known names, including her profile of Harry Higgs. She also reports on everything that define a tournament week, covering on-course conduct, rules decisions, and the fan and media reaction that follows, with much of her 2026 work centered on the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Roshni's background is in research and brand strategy, which informs the accuracy and structure she brings to her coverage. She works methodically, prioritizing verification and the detail that a strong earnings or profile piece depends on.

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Abhimanyu Gupta

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