Stats
You won't believe how much Tiger Woods' historic 2000 season would have earned him in 2024 money
Phil Sheldon/Popperfoto
Scottie Scheffler has earned comparisons to Tiger Woods of late, and rightly so. After winning green jacket No. 2, Scheffler is the most dominant World No. 1 since Woods in terms of world ranking points, he's got the best strokes gained stats since Tiger, and he's made more prize money in a season than Woods ever did. It's that last point, however, that we'll examine more closely.
Of course, a lot has changed since Woods was still in his prime, including golfers getting paid a lot more. (Thank you, Tiger, by the way.) And if you adjust the financials from Woods' peak, the results are mind-blowing.
We know this because our own Jamie Kennedy did just that, figuring out what Woods's historic 2000 season—in which he won nine PGA Tour titles, including three majors—would have earned him in 2024 prize money. Back in 2000, Woods shattered the record with more than $10.7 million in earnings, but that's chump change to what it would be now.
When factoring in bigger purses and new player bonuses—both for the FedEx Cup and the PGA Tour's Player Impact Program—that number jumps to . . . drumroll, please . . . more than $92 MILLION! For ONE season! Have a look:
Unbelievable. Kennedy points out that it's not a perfect comparison with tournaments and that when Woods tied for a certain place (say T-5), he gave him credit for solo fifth money (By the way, it should be noted that Woods' own tournament was played in both January and December, but that didn't add that much). Jamie also assumed Woods would have won both the FedEx Cup and PIP top bonus—a pretty safe assumption considering he won nine times, including three majors!
Of course, Scheffler is on pace to rack up an amazing total in 2024 himself. He's already earned more than $15 million in nine events and he is in good shape to win the $25 million FedEx Cup bonus and $4 million AON bonus. That being said, despite being the two-time reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year, he has yet to finish first in the final FedEx Cup standings.
When not including bonuses, Scheffler's $21,014,032 from last season is the tour's record for most prize money earned in one season. Again, thank you, Tiger.
Woods, meanwhile, has made just under $121 million in official prize money during his pro career dating back to 1996. But again, under today's payouts, he would have earned about three-quarters of that in one season.
Anyway, we can make all the comparisons we want. But as even Scottie knows, when it comes to talking about the best players (at least, of the modern era), there's still Tiger and then there's everyone else.