Tiger Woods has sat at the top of the PGA Tour Career Money List chart for over two decades.
The 15-time major winner topped the annual Money List standings in 10 different seasons and built his haul to a monstrous $120,999,166.
Ahead of this week’s Genesis Invitational, which Tiger is hosting, there was excitement that Woods could nudge that tally up further.
Asked if playing in April’s Masters was off the table, Woods responded with a one-word answer: “no”.
The 50-year-old hasn’t competed in an official PGA Tour event since July 2024 while he’s made just 11 competitive starts since his car crash in California in 2021.
Woods holds the record for the most consecutive cuts made at The Masters with 24 (1997 to 2024) so could extend that mark further.
But one record he won’t be keeping hold of for long is that No.1 ranking in the PGA Tour Career Money List.
Two active players are closing in on Woods.
And it’s no surprise that the pair in question are Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
These are the current standings:
1. Tiger Woods $120,999,166
2. Rory McIlroy $108,324,516
3. Scottie Scheffler $102,426,316
So the big question is who will overtake Tiger first?
McIlroy played 16 events last season and won $16,992,418 in prize money.
In 2024, the Northern Irishman teed it up 19 times on the PGA Tour and banked $10,893,790.
While Rory has a near $6m advantage on Scheffler, the Texan is chasing down McIlroy and Woods at a rapid rate.
Scheffler played 20 events last season and pocketed a massive $27,659,550.
In 2024, he made 19 starts and trousered an even bigger $29,228,357.
So, in that two-year-spell, Scheffler’s winnings averaged a staggering $1,458,664 per event.
In the same period, McIlroy averaged a still extremely healthy £796,748 per tournament.
On those numbers, the race to reel in Tiger looks to be a close one.
Let’s do the final bit of math.
Scheffler currently trails Tiger by $18,572,850.
At his current rate of earning, Scheffler will need to play 13 more tournaments to overtake Woods (presuming Tiger doesn’t add to his total).
McIlroy trails Tiger by $12,674,650.
At his current rate of earning, McIlroy will need to play 16 more events to surpass Woods.
But, while Scheffler appears to be winning the race, there is one other consideration – schedule.
If McIlroy repeated last year’s schedule, on the numbers above he’d still be a fraction short of Tiger after the completion of the season-ending Tour Championship in August.
In other words, he might have to wait for the first event of 2027 before getting his nose in front.
But if Scheffler keeps up his rate of earning across 2024 and 2025 and plays in the same events as last year, he’d overtake Tiger at July’s Scottish Open.
One final twist though.
What about 2026? Scheffler has already finished first, third and fourth in three events.
Remarkably, his prize pot this season of $2,973,180 actually lowers his average earnings per event if using January 2024 as the starting point – $1,458,664 per event down to $1,425,263.
So at that updated rate – January 2024 to February 2026 – Scheffler will overtake Tiger at … drumroll … this summer’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Scheffler, of course, is the defending champion after his win at Royal Portrush in 2025.
So what a week that could be.
If Scheffler wins he’d secure back-to-back Claret Jugs and, at the same time, could become the highest money earner in PGA Tour history.
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Article Link: PGA Tour career money list: when will Scheffler and McIlroy overtake Woods?