How LIV's impact forced PGA Tour to supercharge their purses: Over 123 golfers earned $1,000,000+ in 2022-23 Season

Since the inception of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, there has been an undeniable stir in the entire golfing fraternity. Be it the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, the leading golfing circuits were really struggling to hold on to their golfers.

The League offered huge paychecks and eye-watering prize pools in each and every tournament. They pulled out all the stops and tricks up their sleeves to compete with the PGA Tour and entice prominent names in the sport.

To dissuade golfers from joining the breakway league, the Tour had an enormously inflated budget in the 2022-23 season. The FedEx Cup budget was substantially increased and a new Player Impact Program was also introduced.

It is noteworthy that Scottie Scheffler, who played just 23 events in the 2022-23 season, which is two less than the 2021-22 season, has earned around $21 million, while last season he earned just over $14 million.

As a matter of fact, he won four tournaments last season, while winning just two tournaments this season.

Although there are over 120 players who earned over a million dollars in the 2022-23 season, which is almost similar to the 2021-22 season, there is a substantial decrease in the number of tournaments conducted to earn that kind of money.

For a better understanding, look at the top 10 earners in both the seasons:

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Top 10 earners in the 2022-23 season

1. Scottie Scheffler - $21,014,342
2. Jon Rahm - $16,522,608
3. Viktor Hovland - $14,112,234
4. Rory McIlroy - $13,921,008
5. Wyndham Clark - $10,757,489
6. Max Homa - $10,506,366
7. Patrick Cantlay - $10,372,998
8. Brian Harman - $9,151,022
9. Keegan Bradley - $8,897,330
10. Xander Schauffele - $8,422,856

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Top 10 earners in the 2021-22 season

1. Scottie Scheffler - $14,046,910
2. Cameron Smith - $10,107,897
3. Will Zalatoris - $9,405,082
4. Patrick Cantlay - $9,369,605
5. Rory McIlroy - $8,654,566
6. Xander Schauffele - $7,427,299
7. Sam Burns - $7,073,986
8. Matt Fitzpatrick - $7,012,672
9. Justin Thomas - $6,829,576
10. Cameron Young - $6,520,598

It is also pertinent to note that in the previous two editions, the budget of the PGA Tour has increased like never before. Scottie Scheffler, who has earned about $35 million collectively in the last two seasons, has crossed the $15 million earnings mark in both seasons.

In comparison, Jordan Spieth crossed $10 million in earnings in a season back in 2014-15. Till the 2020-21 season, no golfer had crossed that mark.

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How much did the PGA Tour budget increase in some of its elevated tournaments?

The leading American golf tour first increased the prize pool of many tournaments in the 2021-22 season. But that was just pennies to the dollar. The major hike came in the 2022-23 season. Most of the events saw on average a 60-70 percent prize pool increase.

Following are the PGA Tour elevated events that had some whopping prize pool hikes:

Sentry Tournament of Champions

• 2021-22: $8.2 million
• 2022-23: $15 million

Genesis Invitational

• 2021-22: $12 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

Arnold Palmer Invitational

• 2021-22: $12 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

The Players Championship

• 2021-22: $20 million
• 2022-23: $25 million

WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

• 2021-22: $12 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

Memorial Tournament

• 2021-22: $12 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

FedEx Cup playoff events

• 2021-22: $15 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

WM Phoenix Open

• 2021-22: $8.5 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

RBC Heritage

• 2021-22: $8.3 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

Wells Fargo Championship

• 2021-22: $9.3 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

Travelers Championship

• 2021-22: $8.6 million
• 2022-23: $20 million

The PGA Tour started to increase the prize pool as soon as LIV Golf's inception was announced. And when popular golfers from the Tour like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and many others started to switch, they had no other option but to increase the budget like never before.