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LIV Golf defectors dominate Forbes’ highest-earning golfers of 2022 list

By Cody Williams

BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY - JULY 29: Team Captain Phil Mickelson of Hy Flyers GC reacts on the 12th hole during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational - Bedminster at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 29, 2022 in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/LIV via Getty Images)
BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY - JULY 29: Team Captain Phil Mickelson of Hy Flyers GC reacts on the 12th hole during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational - Bedminster at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 29, 2022 in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/LIV via Getty Images) /
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Forbes released a report on the 10 highest-earning golfers in the world for 2022 and the financial shake-up LIV Golf is making is abundantly evident.

There have been many criticisms of LIV Golf and the players who have chosen to leave the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to enter the new league backed financially by the Saudi government and spearheaded by Greg Norman. One of the most prominent issues has been the fact that many of the players have tried to offer reasons that balk in the face of the most obvious one: It’s about the money.

With the Saudi government funding the league, LIV is paying massive sums to get players to join and they’ve been relatively successful in doing so. And a new study from Forbes furthers just how much money is being thrown around.

Forbes released their list of the Top 10 highest-earning golfers in the 2022 calendar year and there are only three PGA Tour players who made the list thanks to the huge paycheck LIV is cutting their new signees.

LIV Golf has seven of Top 10 spots for highest-earning golfers in 2022

Here are the Top 10 earners in golf for 2022 according to the study by Forbes, a list that features seven players who have made the controversial move to LIV Golf (earnings are combined on-course and off-course).

  1. Phil Mickelson ($138 million – On: $102 million/Off: $36 million)
  2. Dustin Johnson ($97 million – On: $68 million/Off: $29 million)
  3. Bryson DeChambeau ($86 million – On: $66 million/Off: $20 million)
  4. Brooks Koepka ($69 million – On: $53 million/Off: $16 million)
  5. Tiger Woods ($68 million – On: $43,500/Off: $68 million)
  6. Rory McIlroy ($43 million – On: $9 million/Off: $34 million)
  7. Sergio Garcia ($42 million – On: $35 million/Off: $7 million)
  8. Jordan Spieth ($39 million – On: $8 million/Off: $31 million)
  9. Patrick Reed ($37 million – On: $34 million/Off: $3 million)
  10. Charl Schwartzel ($34 million – On: $30 million/Off: $4 million)

There was never a question that LIV was paying out exorbitant amounts of money to get players to join the new tour. However, this really puts it into perspective how wild the money is.

Mickelson, Johnson, DeChambeau and Koepka are all out-earning every player’s earnings on the PGA Tour with just what they’re making on the course this year. And then the fact that golfers such as Charl Schwartzel can crack the Top 10 is further evidence of that.

This is the new landscape of golf and, frankly, one of the challenges that the PGA Tour undeniably faces. The on-course money from LIV Golf is insane and they must find a way to combat that if they want to keep more players from defecting.

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