LIV Golf defectors dominate Forbes list of Highest Earning Golfers of 2022

Forbes released a report on the 10 Highest Earning Golfers In The World For 2022, and the financial shakeup LIV Golf is conducting is abundantly clear.

There has been much criticism of LIV Golf and the players who have decided to leave the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to join the new league funded by the Saudi government and spearheaded by Greg Norman. One of the most noticeable problems was the fact that many of the players tried to offer reasons that shy away from the most obvious: it’s about the money.

Since the league is funded by the Saudi government, LIV pays huge sums to get players to join and they have been relatively successful in doing so. And a new study by Forbes furthers just how much money is being thrown around.

Forbes published its list of Top 10 Highest Earning Golfers in 2022 calendar year and there are only three PGA Tour players who have made the list thanks to the huge paycheck that LIV is cutting its new signers.

LIV Golf has seven of the top 10 spots for highest paid golfers in 2022

Here are the top 10 earners in golf for 2022, according to Forbes research, a list of seven players who made the controversial move to LIV Golf (earnings combined on and off course).

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

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

Mickelson, Johnson, DeChambeau and Koepka all top the earnings of any player on the PGA Tour with exactly what they’re making on the court this year. And the fact that golfers like Charl Schwarzel can crack the top 10 is further proof of that.

This is the new landscape of golf and, quite frankly, one of the challenges the PGA Tour is undeniably facing. The money on the course at LIV Golf is insane and they need to find a way to counteract this if they are to keep more players from defecting.