Prize money on the PGA Tour has exploded over the last several years.
There can be a lot of money won playing professional tournament golf, especially on the PGA Tour and especially in the last two decades. And especially in the last two seasons.
Prize money has exploded on the circuit thanks to the signature events as well as the four majors boosting their purses.
Because of the influx of cash, four of the top five single-seasons for money earned happened during the 2022-23 season. One golfer has set a record for three years in a row. And Tiger Woods’ 2005 season ($10,628,024) is now not in the top 10.
Note: This list does not count bonus money awarded at the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship.
Jordan Spieth is testing new putters at the 2024 Travelers Championship.
CROMWELL, Conn — If Tiger Woods is willing to bench Excaliber, his Scotty Cameron Newport GSS putter that helped him win 14 of his 15 majors, no putter should ever feel completely safe in a pro’s bag. That includes Jordan Spieth’s Scotty Cameron 009 blade.
A day after Spieth needed 30 putts to shoot an even-par 70 at TPC River Highlands (when the field scoring average at the Travelers Championship was 68.6), there were two prototype Scotty Cameron putters, a heel-toe weighted blade and a mallet, leaning against his blue golf bag alongside the practice green.
The sole of the copper-toned blade putter was stamped “Scotty Cameron Xperimental Jordan Spieth Special” and “For Tour Use Only.” Like Spieth’s gamer, it had a single white alignment line on the top line, along with four small screws on the back that appeared to be holding a face insert in place.
Jordan Spieth’s prototype blade and mallet putters on the practice green at TPC River Highlands Friday. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The most unique thing about the putter is it is fitted with a graphite shaft that is labeled “Scotty Cameron Xperimental Prototype.” As of now, Scotty Cameron has yet to release a graphite shafted putter at retail, even though graphite putter shafts have gained popularity over the last few seasons.
The mallet putter is prototype Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5, again with a copper-toned finish and a short, single white alignment line extending back from the topline instead of the two black lines that come on the putter you will see in stores. While the retail version of the Phantom 9.5 has a short “Jet” neck that creates some toe hang, Spieth’s putter features a plumber’s neck hosel that has been hand-welded onto the head.
The letters “JS” have been stamped into the toe of the mallet and filled in red, as has the circle T logo on the face. While the retail version of the Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 features a dual milling pattern on the face to soften the feel and enhance the sound created at impact, Spieth’s putter has a smooth face.
The shaft on the mallet putter was dark and step-less, but it was not visibly labeled, so Golfweek can not confirm whether it was graphite or dark-toned steel.
On Friday afternoon, before his 1:50 tee time with Wyndham Clark, Spieth rolled a few putts at the start of this warm-up session with the mallet putter but quickly started using his old 009 putter and never changed back. At several points during his putting warm-up, Spieth had his caddie, Michael Greller, take his smartphone and shoot a video of his putting stroke, which the three-time major winner then studied before rolling more putts.
He did not hit any putts with the Jordan Spieth Special blade putter fitted with the graphite shaft, and when he walked toward the practice area carrying a wedge and two bags of balls, Greller smiled and pointed at the old putter, indicating that the old putter was going to be in the bag for at least another day.
Spieth has been struggling on the greens for nearly three years, as the chart above shows, but with the Travelers Championship being a no-cut event, this would be an ideal place to try something new.
Below are several close-up images of Speith’s prototype putters.
Spieth was disqualified from the Genesis Invitational after the second round in February for signing an incorrect scorecard.
The PGA Tour is amending its rule on when a scorecard is returned. Call it the Jordan Spieth rule.
As you may recall, Spieth was disqualified from the Genesis Invitational after the second round in February for signing an incorrect scorecard. Spieth, a three-time major winner and member of the Tour’s policy board, signed for a par on the par-3 4th hole at Riviera Country Club, but he made a bogey after missing a 5-foot putt.
As he later admitted, he had to go to the bathroom and so hastily signed his card for one less than the 2-over 73 he actually shot. In the future, he will have 15 minutes to return to the scoring area after he leaves to make a correction.
Across all our tours and other major golf organizations, a player’s scorecard is considered ‘returned’ to the Committee once the player has left the defined scoring area. In an e-mail to players and also available on the player internal web site, the Tour explained to its members that it had been working with the USGA, R&A and DP World Tour to amend this definition, with a goal of minimizing penalties or disqualifications related to scorecard errors.
Oh wow. Just announced a rule change where even if you leave the scoring area, you get a 15 minute buffer window to make any changes to your score without getting DQ. I think it’s way better this way. Hopefully no more scorecard DQs in the future.
The Tour announced a 15-minute window “to correct an error on his scorecard, even if he has left the scoring area.”
If a scorecard is validated in the scoring system and the player has left the scoring area, he may return to correct an error within 15 minutes of validation.
If a player has left the scoring area and an error is identified before the scorecard is validated in the scoring system, he may return to correct the error within 15 minutes of the error being identified by the scoring official.
If a player is in the scoring area when the 15 minutes expires, his scorecard is returned when he leaves the scoring area.
“In general, all players will have the ability to correct an error within this 15-minute period which may have previously resulted in disqualification. However, exceptions may apply when constraints within the competition limit a player’s correction time to less than 15 minutes, such as releasing tee times following the cut, starting a playoff, or the close of competition.”
The rule change is going into effect immediately on all PGA Tour sanctioned circuits as well as on the DP World Tour. Count Tour pro Michael Kim as a fan of the change: “I think it is way better this way,” he wrote on the social-media platform X. “Hopefully no more scorecard DQ’s in the future.”
It’s an antiquated rule that was overdue to be revised, but did it go far enough? Tour pro Andrew Putnam would say no.
“Such a dumb rule,” he wrote on X. “In what other sport do players keep their scores? We all have walking scorers with every group and every shot is calculated to the yard. Cmonnn [sic] people.”
The most famous penalty for a scorecard error belongs to Roberto De Vicenzo, who missed out on a playoff with Bob Goalby to settle the 1968 Masters. The likelihood of another “What a stupid I am!” moment has been diminished greatly thanks to this rule amendment.
Tour pros teed off on the par-3 16th at Muirfield Village last year.
A familiar voice rang out as Jack and Barbara Nicklaus wheeled their golf cart past the 17th tee Wednesday at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
“Love No. 16,” Matt Kuchar yelled from No. 17 tee.
Nicklaus waved thanks and kept driving, presumably satisfied that at least one PGA Tour player was giving his redesign of the maligned par 3 a thumb’s-up.
Not all players were as enthusiastic with their praise.
“It’s better than it was. Put it that way,” said Jordan Spieth, one of several players who met with Nicklaus after the 2023 Memorial Tournament to share their misgivings about the hole at Muirfield Village, which ranks as the No. 1 private course in Ohio.
If Nicklaus was looking for a universal ringing endorsement of his changes, well, professional golfers seldom are 100 percent thrilled when confronted with a challenging hole.
And No. 16 is dastardly, forcing right-handed players to draw the ball – lefties must fade it – 218 yards into a narrow green with water on the left and a bunker back right. It has undergone several transformations through the years, but none has satisfied everyone.
No hole in the 49-year history of the Memorial Tournament has been criticized by players like the 16th, which took heat in the early days of the event when George Archer complained that no par 3 should be longer than 200 yards.
The complaints reached another level last year when several players took dead aim at the hole.
“It’s a stupid hole,” Westerville resident Jason Day said, echoing the sentiments of many.
Nicklaus took the feedback to heart, changing the hole by moving the tee about 30 yards to the right, which took more of the greenside pond out of play. More significantly, he removed a bunker just to the right of the green, replacing it with a grassy slope.
Jack Nicklaus drives his wife, Barbara, through a crowd of fans during a practice day for the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch)
What hasn’t changed is the firmness of the green, which is difficult to hold when tee shots land past the first 20 feet. That is after Nicklaus reshaped the putting surface in 2021 to help keep balls from bouncing off the green even on good shots.
“I’ve always really liked the hole,” Sahith Theegala said, before shooting holes in it. “But there does come a point where you’re hitting a shot and you feel you have no chance of holding the green, whether you hit a good shot or a bad shot, there needs to be a change made. I’ve landed a few balls like four paces on, in the middle of the green, and they went over the back of the green.”
The recent alterations Nicklaus made won’t change that, Theegala said.
“But because the angle changed if you hit a draw in there you can land it on the green and get one close, whereas before the angle was too straight on to be able to do that,” he said. “You’re going to see some guys hit some pretty big draws into the hole, taking less club, just because that bailout area front right is pretty easy now. Before, you pretty much chalk it up to a 4 and move on. It’s easier and a better hole now.”
Collin Morikawa explained that moving the tee actually has less impact than Nicklaus removing the front-right bunker.
“The bunker was never bad, but it’s not like you wanted to be in it,” he said. “The little runoff on the side isn’t as drastic as I thought it would be, so you could actually putt it or chip it across the green. It’s still a tough tee shot, don’t get me wrong. You’re still hitting 7-iron, 6-iron, 5-iron, depending on the wind, to a small, narrow green that doesn’t have a lot of depth.”
Xander Schauffele agreed with Morikawa that removing the bunker makes the 16th more gettable.
“It’s more fair now,” he said. “Taking that bunker out allows you to be as defensive as you would like, without sort of laying up with a 50-yard pitch shot. You’re going to see a lot of balls end up in that little area, especially those front two pins.”
“Someone has to show a hand. It’s got to happen soon.”
HAMILTON, Ontario – Could progress be in the offing for the ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund?
Adam Scott, a PGA Tour player director, has had a seat at the table this year, and as recently as two weeks ago even he said he is perplexed at how the negotiations have stretched into June. When asked at his pre-tournament press conference at the Charles Schwab Challenge about the future of professional golf, he struggled to give a complete answer.
The problem? He said he was still waiting to hear PIF’s end game.
“I think the PGA Tour has a vision of what it wants to look like 12, 18 (months) and then going forward, five, 10 and 20, you know, or at least 10 years down the line, let’s say, and what it should evolve into,” he said. “But at the moment there’s another party that they’re negotiating with that has to believe in that vision as well, and I don’t know exactly what their vision is.”
Speaking to Golfweek at the RBC Canadian Open, Scott said he was confident he will learn that vision soon.
“I think we are getting there, for sure,” Scott said. “Eventually someone is going to have to put it out exactly what it is, and I think that will happen very soon. I think so. You have to break the ice, kind of, and someone has to show a hand. It’s got to happen soon. It’s moving along as quickly as it can.”
When Scott was pushed on if he really believed that the negotiations – which technically began nearly a year ago with the signing of the Framework Agreement on June 6 – were moving fast enough, he said, “It’s not all up to us on our schedule. The head of the PIF sits on 125 boards or something. He’s busy, too. Some would say the buck stops with him and he has to make some decisions on what he’s investing in.”
The PGA Tour already has entered into an agreement for Strategic Sports Group to invest at least $1.5 billion and as much as $3 billion into the Tour’s new for-profit entity. The Tour and PIF met in March in the Bahamas after the Players Championship for the first time. Jimmy Dunne, whose secret meeting with PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan in early 2023 led to the Framework Agreement, resigned from the Tour board in mid-May citing “no meaningful progress” toward a deal with PIF to unify men’s professional golf. Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth, both fellow Tour player directors, disagreed with Dunne and called that a false narrative.
“It’s ongoing, it’s fluid, it changes day-to-day,” Woods said ahead of the PGA Championship last month. “Has there been progress? Yes. But it’s an ongoing negotiation, so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process, and so we’re making steps, and it may not be giant steps, but we’re making steps.”
Added Spieth: “I just continue to kind of chuckle, because I only feel positive momentum when we’re having these internal conversations, and then every time anything comes from the outside world it’s the opposite, and it just kind of makes me chuckle a bit because it’s a bit frustrating.”
A source for Golfweek said that “very soon” could be as early as next week. The Memorial, the next stop on the PGA Tour and hosted by Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, is typically a gathering spot of leaders of the golf world, and talks could accelerate at Jack’s Place.
A source told Golfweek that the question is how much will the players on the board be willing to compromise? And how much money is PIF prepared to lose?
“It’s who blinks first,” a source said. “It’s not rosy in either camp, so empower Jay (Monahan), put him in a room with Yasir and do a deal.”
“I’m not a very patient person and I think that’s gotten me in trouble in a lot of times in my career.”
While Xander Schauffele’s victory at the 2024 PGA Championship in Louisville marked the end of a lengthy and sometimes frustrating road to becoming a major champion, Jordan Spieth’s career path was far more front-loaded, with the Texan owning two pieces of golf’s Grand Slam by the time he was 22 and three before his 24th birthday.
But Spieth’s results have been widely scattered since he hoisted the Claret Jug after winning the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 2017, with just two PGA Tour victories and some stretches that have seen him plummet in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Spieth has dropped to No. 25 in the world, and had a spell in which he missed the cut four times in six starts. Not exactly what most envisioned when he took the golf world by storm in 2015 with five victories, including a green jacket and a U.S. Open.
The Dallas native is hoping that another home game, this one at Colonial Country Club in nearby Fort Worth, will kickstart the second half of the season as he tries to put the pieces back together again.
This led to an interesting question on Wednesday in advance of the Charles Schwab Challenge when Spieth was asked if — unlike Schauffele, who had to keep grinding before securing his first major — he’d been a victim of his own success at such a young age.
“Yeah, certainly. But I think the healthy way to do it is that being of my own expectation, right, not of anyone else’s. But, yeah, absolutely. Once I know what I’m capable of, I want to obviously stay there,” Spieth said. “If you fall from that even a little bit it frustrates you, and then if you fall quite a bit from that you can be wondering what in the world is going on. It can overtake you, and it did for me for a little while. I think I have a better perspective now, but at the same time the drive to get to where I know my ceiling is at has never been higher.
“So every day that I’m not there it’s still, I still walk away, if I feel like I progressed towards it, I walk away really, really pleased with my day. But some days I feel like I didn’t and instead of being okay with that — back to this patient talk — you know, I lose a little patience because I know what I am capable of and not sustaining that every year is something that I’m not okay with personally. So, I think it’s something that I wouldn’t change anything that has ever happened to me, I’ve accomplished most all the goals that I had in golf, albeit, you know, in a short period of time, but the nature of sustaining that is something that I would like to have another opportunity at and I’ll continue to work towards.”
Jordan Spieth of the United States and Xander Schauffele of the United States stand on the 17th green during the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 4, 2023, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
If there’s a place for Spieth to continue that work, a refurbished Colonial seems appropriate for the job. His record at the course, which is unveiling a new look thanks to renowned designer Gil Hanse, is stellar, as he won the title in 2016 and has three second-place finishes in 11 appearances. Spieth has only finished outside the top 10 three times in his long run at Colonial.
And Spieth admitted he can take some inspiration from Schauffele, who has worked hard behind the scenes in a quest to finally win a major title. Spieth said he’s noticed the extra effort the San Diego native has delivered.
“I’ve been playing with Xander for seven, better part of seven years now, and if you asked me, is there any doubt in your mind that he would win major championships I would say … I don’t know a weakness in his game, so it’s just a matter of time, so it’s not surprising at all,” Spieth said. “Am I inspired? Yeah. I mean, one thing that he’s been doing that’s been different is he’s looked to add speed, but did it like very methodically, very quietly, very in the dark. It’s been amazing watching him go after tournament rounds, like on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and he’ll go to the workout trailer and hit a heavy gym session after the round. It’s not common out here. There’s a few guys that will do it, but it’s still not common. Everybody goes before now. 10, 12 years ago half the field went before, now everybody does. But he’s going after and hitting these heavy workouts with a goal in mind that he thought would gain a slight advantage.
“The way he approached that patiently is extremely inspiring.”
Meanwhile, the impulsive Spieth, known for his creativity and boyish approach to the game, admitted that the composure shown by Schauffele has been impressive, and it’s possible the big victories might come fast and furious for the eight-time PGA Tour winner.
“I’m not a very patient person and I think that’s gotten me in trouble in a lot of times in my career, as far as the process. Like trusting the process and giving it time and not having to have results right away,” Spieth said. “He didn’t seem bothered by close calls. He had to answer a lot of questions regarding Sundays or whatever, and I remember having those for a year or two as well and then, you know, I was more patient back then because I was playing consistently better, so it was easier to be more patient. Once it goes your way, then you start thinking they’re all going to go your way, and then they do.
“So I wouldn’t be surprised if this is just the beginning.”
McKINNEY, Texas – As the defending champion of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Jason Day smiles widely when asked to name his fondest memory of winning here for the first time in more than five years.
“Obviously everything,” said Day, who won for the 13th time in his PGA Tour career.
He also marvels at the 13-year span between his first victory in 2010 at this event and his most recent time lifting a trophy.
“I always wonder where the time went,” he said.
Back in 2010, Day, 36, was one of the PGA Tour’s young hotshots, but his maiden victory was in some ways overshadowed by a 16-year-old local junior golfer, who set the tournament on fire that week.
“I just remembered like being in my own little world but I’m like who is this amateur, junior, that’s playing this week and playing really well?” Day recalled.
That would be Jordan Spieth, who finished T-16, and would become Day’s chief rival in his pursuit to become world No. 1.
“He doesn’t look too different to what he looks now, to be honest,” Day said. “Still a baby face.”
Between 2015 and 2017, Spieth collected three majors and reached world No. 1. Day, who edged Spieth to win the 2015 PGA Championship had his own stint at world No. 1, but it seems a long time ago that either of the former worldbeaters were at their peak. Day, for one, is looking forward to a friendly pairing with Spieth in the opening two rounds of this week’s CJ Cup.
“I’m excited about that because it reminds me of old-school times playing in ’14, ’15, ’16 against him when he was the top – he was No. 1 in the world and was really tough to beat that guy,” Day said.
Day enters the week at No. 22 in the Official World Golf Ranking, just behind Spieth, who has dipped back to No. 20 after a pedestrian stretch, which included a missed cut at the Masters.
Spieth is set to make his 12th appearance at this event, including a runner-up finish in his last start here in 2022. (He withdrew prior to the start of last year’s tournament citing a wrist injury.)
Spieth still is struggling with the injury, and has previously said that in January during Hawaii and on the Monday at the Players and the Valero Texas Open he experienced a 24-hour flare up of his ECU tendon issue.
“Constant TLC,” he said has been the best medicine and eventually it will require extended rest to heal. But that wasn’t the reason Spieth took off last week. He said he needed a break before he begins a busy stretch, calling it a chance to hit the reset button and clear his mind.
“Got a little burned out trying to find stuff,” he said during his Wednesday press conference. “Looking at this as kind of a restart. I haven’t had the year I wanted to have after getting off to a pretty optimistic start in Hawaii. I feel really good about the work I put in since the weekend into the few days this week, so I believe that I’m really close to some great things.
“Sometimes that can be disguised right before it happens. I’m believing that has been the case and need a couple confidence-building rounds or whatever it may be, and feel like I go on a really nice run.”
Jordan Spieth talks with his caddie Michael Greller before hitting an approach shot on the ninth hole prior to THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch on April 30, 2024 in McKinney, Texas. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images for The CJ Cup)
When asked to name the last time he felt the need to hit the reset button, Spieth didn’t have to think long. After he missed the cut at the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open, Spieth went on a run of six top-15 finishes in his next seven starts, including a win at the Valero Texas Open that ended his own personal victory drought.
“There was a shift mentally for me before the next tournament started,” he said. “All I’m looking for this week is to gain some confidence and have that coincide with some better (swing) mechanics.”
He added, “My approach to this week is it’s very hard to win events on the PGA Tour. I would love to win this event. It would mean more to me than most events. I think that can be a good thing to think about it that way. I can look at it as a place I can maybe look at as successful season and say it wasn’t what I wanted until the Byron Nelson, and then I used the tournament that’s been so special to my heart to turn things around and go forward and start a nice run.”
Spieth said he won’t include an asterisk if he were to win without world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is awaiting the birth of his first child, in the field this week. Spieth said it’s the first time he’s drawn inspiration from a player younger than him.
“Because I play a decent amount of rounds with him here in town, I’m constantly seeing it and trying to beat him at home, and when he’s playing better than I am, it sucks. I don’t enjoy it when I’m side by side because there were however many years of our life it wasn’t that way,” Spieth said. “It’s flipped and I feel like I’ve got plenty of runway to be able to get it back. It’s inspiring at the same time to try make that happen. I have nothing in my way of being able to make that happen but my own self. I’ve got enough. I believe in my ceiling, and I believe my ceiling is as high as anybody’s. I have to get each part of my game up towards its ceiling. I have a couple areas that are about at it right now and a couple areas that need to get there. If they do, then I feel like we could go on runs together, I guess.”
Tiger Woods is set to receive $100 million, Rory McIlroy $50 million and Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas $30 million each. In all, $750 million will go to the top 36 players based on a formula that calculates their impact on the game – career success, popularity. Nearly 200 players will be paid for sticking with the Tour.
These payments will be dolled out over the next eight years, meaning the players will have to stay loyal to the Tour during that time. Going forward, the Tour expects to give out $100 million annually to its players.
McIlroy was asked about the payouts Wednesday ahead of the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale. His answer was tongue-in-cheek.
It’s been nine April’s since Jordan Spieth left Georgia in green.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s been nine April’s since Jordan Spieth left Georgia in green.
And in case he forgot — albeit unlikely — his golf bag can serve as a reminder this week.
AT&T annually designs a commemorative bag for each major championship, according to Spieth. This year, instead of embroidering the golfer’s name in traditional bold letters, AT&T chose a different route — a golden nameplate.
Future Masters champion in the making? Only time will tell.
If Jordan Spieth’s son is anything like he is, he’s bound to be exciting on the golf course.
Well, Sammy Spieth sure provided the crowd some good highlights during the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday at the 2024 Masters. Paired with Rickie Fowler and Fred Couples, Jordan, his wife Annie and kids Sammy and Sophie were one of the first groups out during the annual competition.
And Sammy even had a couple of his own clubs. And took some swings.
