Who do you think had a great 2024? Scottie Scheffler or Xander Schauffele? Well, we’d say that the former has practically had one of the greatest seasons of his entire professional career, especially, monetarily. Scheffler appeared in nineteen events on the Tour this year and missed no cuts. Apart from winning the 2024 Paris Olympics and seven other events, he has also managed to bag the 2024 Player of the Year title after clinching the trophy at the Tour Championship. All of this helped him earn a whopping $29,228,357 in on-course earnings, approximately $8.2 million more than last year.

Jon Rahm, on the other hand, who was in the second position on the earning list last year has moved to LIV Golf and is known to be having the time of his life. Now that Rahm is not on the PGA Tour’s earning list for obvious reasons, can you tell who has had the most dramatic monetary fall this year? Hint: It’s a Norwegian star who took the golf world by storm last year. 

In 2023, Viktor Hovland was in the top 3 having earned more than $14 million in the season. He had bagged three wins on the Tour in 2023 including the Player of the Year title, but this season he went completely winless and has only earned a little over $4.5 million, which is almost three times less than what he bagged last year. Hence, he is not even in the top 10. Additionally, despite having a great season with two wins, it is hard to believe that Rory McIlroy too has dropped down on the list.

Earlier, he was in the fourth position and this season he has dropped down to the fifth position. The Northern Irishman earned $10,893,790 this year, close to $4 million less than what he bagged last year. Max Homa and Brian Harman, who were in the top 10, have also dropped in the money list this year with both of them being out of the top 10. The 2025 Ryder Cup US Team Captain, Keegan Bradley, remains in the same position but with close to a $3 million difference in his earnings. He won the BMW Championship this year, ending his drought of 427 days.

Well, Scottie Scheffler’s name might be brimming with headlines, being completely invincible this year. But there was only one player who put up the closest fight with World No. 1. That would be Xander Schauffele, and well, his performance too has been commendable indeed.

Xander Schauffele’s growth this season was phenomenal

Xander Schauffele is currently enjoying the second position on the OWGR list and the fourth position on the FedEx Cup standings. Last year, the American professional went winless and had a runner-up finish at the Tour Championship. He had managed to bag only $8,459,066, which had put him in the tenth position on the earning list. However, the 2024 season has been exceptionally smooth for him. He went from being a 0-time major winner to being a two-time major winner. 

He dropped down two ranks on the FedEx Cup standings, by finishing with a T4 at the Tour Championship, but earned more than twice the amount he managed to bag last year, making his official earnings for 2024 $18,355,910. Talk about a staggering growth chart! 

Which fall or rise did you find most surprising? Let us know in the comments section below!