JJ Spaun’s breakout 2025 PGA Tour season is one that he will remember forever, as will the record books as he looks to break Tiger Woods’ record for prize money earned
JJ Spaun has enjoyed an incredible year on the PGA Tour(Image: Getty Images)
JJ Spaun is expected to break Tiger Woods’ record prize money haul for a single year despite winning just one tournament this season. Scottie Scheffler (£14.15million) and Rory McIlroy (£11.92m) have unsurprisingly come in at first and second place respectively on the newly-released PGA Tour regular season prize money charts.
But in third place is a name no-one could have predicted when the season began in January. By the end of the Wyndham Championship last week, Spaun had raked in £7.56m ($10.14m).
That’s despite the 34-year-old American only claiming one victory across 20 events. However, that triumph just happened to be at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club back in June.
Spaun came out on top at a course which caused even the biggest names a headache all week, claiming the second-biggest winning cheque of the season in the process. It earned him a mammoth £3.2m ($4.3m) in prize money alone.
Among Spaun’s five top-10s were also two runner-up finishes – the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches and The Players Championship – which also happen to be two of the most lucrative events on the PGA Tour calendar.
His surprise form this season can best be shown by the fact he only claimed £1.2m ($1.65m) in prize money last year, while boasting a career season-best of £2.23m ($3m).
The Californian will hope to continue his meteoric rise at the opening round of the FedExCup Playoffs this week – the FedEx St Jude Championship.
JJ Spaun won the US Open in June(Image: Getty Images)
The FedExCup Playoffs consist of three events, featuring a progressive cut with fields of 70 (FedEx St. Jude Championship), 50 (BMW Championship) and 30 (TOUR Championship).
That means Spaun is very likely to earn the £521,720 ($700,000) he needs to top the legendary Woods’ most successful financial year in terms of prize money.
The 15-time major winner is widely regarded as the greatest to ever swing a golf club. But he only earned over the $10m mark in 2005, 2007 and 2009, with 2007 being his most lucrative year in the sport. He raked in £8.1m ($10.87m) that year despite a whopping seven PGA Tour victories, including the PGA Championship.
That only goes to show how drastically the prize money has increased in recent years, with the sums PGA Tour stars earn now on a Sunday dwarfing what Woods and his peers won.
Tiger Woods would have earned far more money today(Image: TGL Golf via Getty Images)
Yet, Spaun still trails Woods’ career prize money by a huge distance. Woods recorded 82 Tour wins and a total prize purse of £90m ($121m) before facing persistent injury problems.
Still, Spaun’s recent heroics from journeyman to major champion are a lesson in resilience for any aspiring golf star. “I never thought I would win a major – a few years ago I was just trying to get in them,” he said after his victory.
“It’s a big difference, having the spotlight on me now and the expectations, but all I can do is just rely on the experiences I’ve had – coming down the stretch at the US Open, getting myself in the play-off at The Players Championship.
“I’ve had way bigger challenges – whether it’s life or golf or losing my card – than just being more in the spotlight, so I’m learning to embrace it.”
