There is more money in professional sports than ever before.
While athletes competing in team sports are benefiting from rising contract values across almost every league, those in individual sports still have to earn their paychecks week in and week out.
In 2024, some rose above their peers more than others. Here are the professional athletes who won the most prize money in their respective sports and leagues this year.
Going for the Green
The ongoing divide—and competition—between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf has led to a rapid increase in prize money in men’s golf. The two most recent Masters winners were able to cash in the most.
PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler, $63.2 million
Scheffler won a staggering seven tournaments during the 2024 PGA Tour season, including the Masters, earning $29.2 million. He added another $8 million bonus for finishing first in the season-long Comcast Business Tour Top 10. Finally, he received a $25 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.
All of that was good for $62.2 million. Then, this month, Scheffler won the Hero World Challenge—a limited-field PGA Tour event hosted by Tiger Woods—and its $1 million first-place check, bringing his total 2024 earnings from the PGA Tour to $63.2 million.
Additionally, Scheffler won the gold medal in men’s golf at the Paris Olympics, for which Team USA awarded him $37,500. And he closed out the year by winning another $5 million in CRO cryptocurrency for teaming up with Rory McIlroy to defeat Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in the “Crypto.com Showdown.”
LIV Golf: Jon Rahm, $34.7 million
Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion, won two tournaments during his first season at LIV, earning $16.7 million along the way. He also won the season-long individual points championship, which came with an $18 million bonus.
At golf’s major championships, which were not factored into his LIV earnings, Rahm won $57,200 for finishing T-45 at the Masters and $451,834 for a T-7 finish at The Open. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship and did not play in the U.S. Open.
LPGA Tour: Jeeno Thitikul, $6.1 million
Thitikul broke the LPGA’s 17-year-old single-season prize money record after taking home $4 million for winning the CME Group Tour Championship, which was the largest prize in women’s golf history. That first-place check was nearly double her 2024 LPGA winnings for the rest of the season ($2.06 million).
This month, Thitikul won another $280,000 for finishing second with her playing partner, Tom Kim, in the Grant Thornton Invitational, a mixed event with PGA Tour players.
Break Point
On the tennis court, Novak Djokovic failed to win a Grand Slam for the first time since 2017, and Spanish legend Rafael Nadal said goodbye to the professional game. Along the way, a pair of young European players rose to the top of the crop.
ATP Tour: Jannik Sinner, $16.91 million
No. 1–ranked Sinner won the Australian and US opens en route to a dominant season. At the ATP Finals, the 23-year-old from Italy won $4.88 million.
Sinner’s biggest check of the year, though, came outside of ATP play. He took home another $6 million for winning the Six Kings Slam, which was a six-person tournament held in Riyadh, and backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
WTA Tour: Aryna Sabalenka, $9.73 million
Like Sinner, Sabalenka won the Australian and U.S. opens, the latter of which was her biggest check of the year at $3.6 million. In October, the Belarusian pro claimed the No. 1 ranking in women’s tennis. In November, she won just over $1 million for reaching the semifinals of the WTA Finals.
Honorable Mentions
IndyCar Series: Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden earned $4.288 million for winning the Indianapolis 500, which is annually the sport’s largest source of prize money. This year, the race had a $18.456 million purse. Newgarden’s total included a $440,000 bonus for winning the Indy 500 in back-to-back years.
Paris Olympics: Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis received multiple cash bonuses of between $30,000 and $100,000 from his sponsors for breaking world records at the Summer Games and other championships throughout the year. Meanwhile, Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo received around $100,000—and a bevy of other perks—for winning two gold medals.
Celebrity boxing: Ahead of his fight with Mike Tyson, Jake Paul claimed he would make $40 million, although it’s unclear whether that was tied to a specific result. Paul won in a unanimous decision.
