LIV Golf’s lowest-paid player Sam Horsfield still earned a mouthwatering amount during the 2023 season
It is no secret that the LIV Golf Series has a plethora of incentives for its field of 54 golfers. These come in the form of signing bonuses, team wins, individual wins as well as impressive prize purses that leave any other tour falling short.
The 2024 LIV season has made its debut at the El Camaleon Golf Course in Mayakoba Mexico. The season has seen the inclusion of No. 3 world ranked Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk. Increasing the field size by six golfers this year.
Despite being just the first tournament of the season, the Mayakoba event has a prize purse of $25 million. Talor Gooch, who finished first on the LIV Golf Individual Championship, earned upwards of $35 million during the 2023 season.
Sam Horsfield, who finished at the bottom of the leaderboard last season, managed to pocket $1.5 million. Horsfield, who had to sit out the season due to a hip injury, made his impact at the 2023 season opener in London.
The prize purses are certainly an attractive feature on the LIV Golf Series. Last year, 11 golfers earned over $10 million on the breakaway series. The likes of Talor Gooch, Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka earned over $15 million, an eye-popping amount of money.
PGA Tour amps up prize purses in response to LIV Golf prize purses
All golfers playing at LIV are able to earn money from the prize purse due to its no-cut fields. The same cannot be said for the PGA Tour, hence reducing the amount of money golfers can make from the tournaments they compete in.
With LIV Golf giving away massive prize purses for the year, the PGA Tour has decided to amp up the size of their prize purses. Especially for its eight 'signature' events.
All eight signature events will have prize purses of $20 million, as well as a smaller field of golfers. The Players Championship will offer a prize purse of $25 million, while the majors will offer anywhere between $16-$20 million. In total, the amount of money up for grabs at PGA Tour events has increased 47% in the past year.
The PGA Tour's prize purse for the year will be $400 million, while LIV's prize purse is $325 million. However, when one compares the number of players on each tour, it is evident that one of the upsides of the LIV Golf series is definitely its prize purses.