Brooks Koepka's move to the LIV series certainly ensured his wallet was thicker than ever. It's rumoured the Saudi-backed breakaway offered him some €140m to switch allegiances despite vocal critics such as Rory McIlroy. But how does Koepka and the Northern-Irishman's 2023 prize money earnings compare?
Koepka has enjoyed a succesful 2023 so far and recently won his third PGA Championship and with it a €3m paycheck. McIlroy on the other hand has yet to win a major since 2014 but did enjoy a succesfull 2022 and has carried that form largely into this current year. His most recent tournament win was back in January at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Their winnings over the first six months of 2023 make for very interesting comparison.
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McIlroy has won just over €6m (€6,172,719.75) in prize money on the PGA Tour so far in 2023 despite not yet winning another major. This is still significantly more than his American rival who has netted €4,431,355.38 even though he was the victor at the PGA Championship. But of course Koepka only plays in the PGA's major events, so lets factor in his LIV Tour winnings.
So far this year there have been six LIV Golf events. Koepka has finished in the top ten three times and won in Orlando in April. The prize for this victory was a staggering €3.7m. More than half-way to McIlroys entire earnings for the year in one event. The pay outs from his other tournament appearances add up to €2,392,865.30. Adding the prize money he's won on both tours the American is sitting pretty on €10,824,220.7. Almost a staggering €5m more than McIlroy.
It's of no surprise that Koepka has earned more considering the huge financial clout that LIV has. The argument all along has been more based around reputational damage and a perceived lack of competition at the LIV events. But one thing is for certain, if money is the only motivating factor, then there is no comparison.
The shock news today of the deal reached between the PGA, DP and LIV tours makes for fascinating reading and may finally put to bed the wranglings and fall-out from the formation of the latter. How it will work out financially isn't yet known but it's unlikely to be bad news for any of the PGA and DP competitors.
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