Scottie Scheffler & Rory McIlroy’s $140M Hard-Work No Match for Jon Rahm at the Paris Olympics

Rahm for the win! You should chant that too, for Jon Rahm is now declared the highest-paid athlete at the Paris Olympics. You heard it right. It was that Spanish golfer who received much rebuke from the golf world when he moved to LIV golf. It is the same golfer who has been dropping off the OWGR list because of his LIV alliance. And it is the very same world No. 1 golfer who had to withdraw from last year’s Tokyo Olympics. Where is he now?

According to a list produced by Sportico, the top 20 highest-paid athletes are chronologically listed who are taking part in the 2024 Paris Olympics. From basketball, 13 players have tightly held their positions across the list, two from tennis. But none of them could reach the heights of Jon Rahm.

With a massive difference of $82.3 million in career earnings from the NBA’s LeBron James, Rahm stands at the top of the list. His career earnings are a whopping $210 million, while the second highest-paid athlete, James, has only $127.7 million. But the difference grows larger as one goes down the list.

This year, the PGA Tour’s celebrated golfer, Scottie Scheffler, won six events, including his second major title. His earnings, however, are only $62.6 million, of which $20 million came from endorsements. At the same time, the fan-favorite golfer, Rory McIlroy, who faced a major heartbreak after his close call to winning this US Open, has $40 million in endorsement earnings and a total of $77.9 million.

He too falls way down in the list, where Rahm seems almost unreachable. Together, they made $140 million and still could not go anywhere near Rahm. McIlroy at 6 and Scheffler being the 7th highest paid athlete shows another side of the Paris Games, where golf is indeed a game that sails well.

But wait, that is not all. There are more golfers than those three. Who are they, and where do they stand? To know more, let us go a little deeper.

Is golf faring well after basketball?

Along with Rahm, Scheffler, and McIlroy, the list of the 20 highest-paid athletes also includes Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele. After winning the second major of his career in the same calendar year, Schauffele had a great season in 2024. With his 12 professional wins, the golfer has earned $23.2 million, and along with his endorsements, he is reported to have $36.2 million in total.

With that amount, he is positioned at 19th rank in the list. The Norwegian golfer, Viktor Hovland, had not made the cut in this Open, yet he is placed at the 12th rank. Hovland, who only turned professional in 2019, already has 10 professional wins and three close shots for a major win. Apart from the US Open, Hovland has been in the Top 3 for all the others. His total career earnings have been recorded at $45.9 million.

With all the golfers, the number of players tallied up to 5. Among the top 20 players on players on the list, more than double the amount has been taken by basketball players, yet golfers are right behind. Apart from two other spots taken up by tennis players, the golfers seemed to have a great influence of their own. Although a player’s earnings do not prove everything, players like Scottie Scheffler might be happy.

It was not long ago that Scheffler hinted at how golf at the Olympic level is an apt reply for its authenticity as a celebratory sport. He had said, “It’s also good bragging rights for people that tell me golf is not a sport—I can say it’s an Olympic sport.” With the list having the second-highest number of players from golfers, Scheffler might get further grounds to prove his points.

Are you excited to see how the Olympics play out in Paris? Which golfer are you rooting for the most? Let us know in the comments below.