The PGA Tour, this year, handed out a total of $400 million in prize money, about the same as last season. Scottie Scheffler alone took home about 20 million, while six more managed to earn in eight digits. They say never before has a golfer earned so much, but also, never before have they earned so much more than lesser Tour players.

The prize pool over at the Korn Ferry Tour continues to cap off at $1 million at every regular-season tournament. There’s no safety cushion, expenses are uncovered, and with the massive carrots being dangled ahead in the PGA, the fields are often packed. Meaning, it is not an easy path to thread through, often resulting in early exits.

“That’s what it is [can you survive?]. It is can you make it to ‘when you make it,’ and then see if you can make some money,” recently retired Kevin Chappell expressed on Golf’s Subpar. “Can you get through the tough years? There’s not a lot of options as far as mini tours. When we came up, I played a handful of mini tour events, and you could make a decent living in the wintertime. That doesn’t exist anymore.

“It barely exists below the Korn Ferry Tour. I think that would have to change. I think there’s less people trying. There’s less reasons to try. The carrot’s gotten bigger, but it has moved away from everyone, unless you are a top 30.”

The most a golfer can make on a Korn Ferry tournament would be  $180,000. The second and third earn $90,000 and $60,000, respectively, while the rest of the top 10 are looking at $25,000 or a little more. For anyone who made the cut, the number is $4000.

Now, not only are these sums before tax, but the golfers are obliged to look after an array of personal expenses– caddie, travelling, locker rooms, sometimes a mental coach, and everything in between. Like Colt Knost went on to mention on the podcast: “I don’t think people realize, yeah, you are a professional golfer, it’s an awesome life, but it’s hard. It’s not always successful.” He had a firsthand experience of seeing a player on the Korn Ferry Tour end up making $55,000 in two years before tax.

On the other hand, Signature Events on the PGA Tour usually boast a payout of $20 million, as well as a $500,000 stipend each season. A Golf Digest 75 report says that 20 golfers on the PGA Tour ended up earning $10 million or more throughout their careers despite not having a single win.

Chappell, who got his first PGA Tour victory at the 2017 Valero Texas Open, agreed that the rewards for the top guys are great. But with opportunities getting fewer, especially after the Tour trimmed the number of players coming in from Korn Ferry, “it’s harder and harder to have long careers that you have seen in the past.”

But the concern doesn’t stop at the up-and-coming guys.

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PGA Tour pension cuts highlight risky floor for established players

Even though the news reports are full of the celebration of huge prize funds, the pension program for the senior tour has already been cut down by 20 %. Which means it has dropped from $10 million to $8 million for this year.

One moment, the PGA Tour is reporting record-breaking revenue, but then it suddenly turns around and signals cost-cutting measures by moving to a for-profit model and partnering with investors like Strategic Sports Group. The push for change is felt by the Players on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, those age 50+ who played a monumental role in the growth of the game, are among the most vocal critics.

One of them stated: “We’re giving way too much money to too few players… while the rest of us are left with nothing.”

In the past, the pension plan was seen as a reward for consistent players. Those who made it to cuts, finished within the top 48, and participated in 12 events a season were eligible. However, the current reduction exposes the conflict: the “success tax” with big money for the elite may, in fact, be cutting off the lesser players who never get the chance to break into that tier.

The outcome? Professionals who depended on job security after the age of 50 now get to choose between the uncertain paths of retirement.