How Tiger Woods Has Produced Hundreds of Millionaires on the PGA Tour

ranked player on the Tour’s money list, Brett Quigley, made $717,411. After travel costs and his caddie’s 10%, Quigley would still have made somewhere in the vicinity of half a million dollars.

Tiger Woods can occasionally make the PGA Tour seem like a repetitive exercise each week as he proceeds to win one tournament after another.

And I can see why there are people out there who in some way feel for players such as Phil Mickelson, Vijay Sing and Jim Furyk, because if Woods were not around, all of these players would have amassed many more victories by now.

But Woods has made the lives, and particularly the pockets, of each and every player on the PGA Tour better.

In 1996, there were fifteen players on Tour who earned over $1 million or more.

In 2007, there were 99 players on Tour who earned $1 million or more.

That represents a nearly 85% increase in the number of millionaires on the PGA Tour since Woods’ arrival 12 years ago.

This increase in earnings is not even taking into account the amount of money sponsors are now throwing at players due to the growing popularity of the game.

The top 25 players in the world will earn additional tens of millions of dollars through sponsorships and endorsements; this money was unheard-of in golf before Woods’ arrival.

There are several aspects that have contributed to the massive increase in PGA Tour prize money. The increase in the general popularity of the game, the increase in the demand for PGA Tour event tickets, the increase in sponsorship and advertising money and the increase in money involved in television contracts have all contributed to the overall increase in prize money.

But, it is utterly impossible to mention any of these aspects without mentioning Tiger Woods in the same sentence.

The fact is that Tiger Woods has almost single handedly created a plethora of millionaires on the PGA Tour who would have otherwise never amassed even a hint of the money they are currently earning.

Woods has undoubtedly benefited more than anyone by his success, he is now valued by Forbes at over $500 million, but in the process he has also created hundreds of other millionaires on the PGA Tour.

Though golfers invariably want to win tournaments; I don’t think there are too many PGA Tour players who would complain about the improvements in their earnings and overall quality of life that has been provided to them in very large part by Tiger Woods.

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