Scottie Scheffler started Sunday $608,505 behind Tiger Woods in career PGA Tour earnings. Four-plus hours later, after shooting a smooth 66 to win the Tour Championship, Scheffler collected $10 million as the FedEx Cup champion and suddenly led Woods by almost $9.4 million in career earnings.
Sure, it’s a sign of the times. Money and purses are so hefty now on the PGA Tour that Woods was bound to get passed. But look at it this way—Woods had been the leader in career earnings since September 2000. It took someone 26 years to pass him.
Woods is at $120,999,166. Scheffler entered the week at $120,390,661 and leaves East Lake with $10 million more than that, or $9,391,495 more than Woods.
The win totals are not close, however, with Woods at 82 wins and 15 majors. The Tour Championship victory was Scheffler’s 22nd, and, at age 30, he has four major championships.
Third on the career list is Rory McIlroy, who was looking to pass Woods at East Lake but a final-round 69 kept him from collecting more. He’s now at $119,555,515, or exactly $1,443,651 less than Woods. Had he been one shot better at the Tour Championship McIlroy would’ve passed Woods.
It’s interesting to note that the next closest active PGA Tour on the money list is Justin Rose with $79,356,373 in earnings. At age 46, it’s been a stellar career for the Englishman, but he’s still quite far behind the Big Three.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
