The debate around prize money in tennis has moved up a level in recent weeks with players openly campaigning for an increase in their returns at major championships, but how do their earnings compare to golfers?
As individual sports, tennis and golf have plenty of similarities and challenges, as they both compete for attention in a crowded global sporting landscape.
Yet golf has found a way to ensure its biggest stars earn more money than elite tennis players each year, as they have reshaped their calendar to ensure majors are played in the first half of the year and big money prizes are on offer for lucrative events in the second half of a season.
World No 1 golfer Scottish Scheffler topped the PGA Tour prize money list last year with a stunning $29,228,357.
By contrast, Jannik Sinner earned the most in on court earnings in tennis in 2024, as he took home almost half that amount at $16,946,149.
Two-time major winner Xander Schauffele was second on the prize money list for golf in 2024 with $18,385,320, with Carlos Alcaraz the second-highest earner in tennis last year with $9,850,338, against pretty much half the earnings.
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A comparison of the two prize money lists for 2024 confirms male golfers are taking home double the amount of cash when compared to their tennis counterparts, with Rory McIlroy already up to $13,257,558 in winnings for 2025 after his epic Masters win on Sunday.
Those numbers will further enhance the claims of tennis players who believe they should be earning more from their sport, amid suggestions that less than a third of revenue from Grand Slam tournaments is paid to players.
The top 20 players from the men’s and women’s tour sent a letter to the organisers of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open calling for an increased share of revenue last month.
In addition, the Professional Tennis Players Association filed a legal action against all tennis chiefs last month that included a demand for increases in prize money and more freedom for players to play in exhibition events.
Golf’s FedEx Cup is a lucrative end-of-season event that allows the top players to collect huge sums of cash, while the breakaway LIV Golf Tour – backed by Sauri Arabian cash – paid out huge sums to its star names last year.
Former Masters champion Jon Rahm earned $34,754,821 on the LIV Tour, while Joaquin Niemann won $24,381,666 and Spain’s Sergio Garcia collected $17,087,143.
McIlroy has already earned well over $100m in prize money during his stunning career, with his commercial sponsorship deals already hugely lucrative prior to his Masters win.
The Irishman’s victory at Augusta allowed him to join Gene Sarazen (completed in 1935), Ben Hogan (1953), Gary Player (1965), Jack Nicklaus (1966) and Tiger Woods (2000) as the only man to win all four majors in golf, with his emotional victory at the Masters completing his already golden legacy.
“It’s a dream come true,” McIlroy said. “I have dreamt about that moment for as long as I can remember.
“Watching Tiger (Woods) here in 1997 do what he did, winning his first green jacket, I think that inspired so many of my generation to want to emulate what he did.
“It feels incredible. This is my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time.
“The last 10 years coming here with the burden of the grand slam on my shoulder and trying to achieve it, I wonder what we’re going to talk about going into next year.
“I’m absolutely honoured, thrilled and proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
After so many years of near misses at the Masters, McIlroy’s win revived memories of Scotland’s Andy Murray finally winning Wimbledon for the first time amid emotional scenes back in 2013.
So many of McIlroy’s fans around the world have been urging him to win the Masters since his last major title win back in 2014, but he kept coming up short.
The vulnerabilities and failings McIlroy shows when the pressure is applied are so relatable to the wider sporting public and are similar to what we saw from Murray as he faced the daunting challenge of taking on Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Murray is a huge fan of golf and has spent time with tennis fan McIlroy talking about their respective experiences, with the two iconic sportsmen as great examples of heroes who have made the most of their natural talents to achieve greatness.
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