From Dustin Johnson to Phil Mickelson, professional golfers were lured away from the PGA Tour to the controversial Saudi-backed league with hefty sign-on contracts and the promise of even more potentially up for grabs. But how much prize money can one actually expect to earn from a LIV Golf Invitation Series event?
This past weekend at The Centurion Club just outside of London, Charl Schwartzel shot a closing two-over-par 72 to win the inaugural tournament. For his efforts, the South African talent was awarded a tidy sum of US$4 million / AU$5.8 million – the largest payday in professional golf history – and another US$750,000 / AU$1.01 million after his four-man squad Stinger GC secured the team title (US$3 million / AU$4.35 million divided four ways).
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“Overall, the purse for the individual competition in this first event in the Saudi-backed series was $20 million, with the last-place finisher (48th) guaranteed to make $120,000,” explained Golf Digest.
“By comparison, that’s just shy of what the golfer finishing 19th at this week’s RBC Canadian Open on the PGA Tour will earn. Additionally, the three top four-man groups in the team competition split another $5 million among them.”
It’s no wonder the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed are also making the switch.
Here’s what every player took home in terms of prize money from the inaugural 2022 LIV Golf Invitational Series London event.
LIV Golf Prize Money – London Invitational (2022)
NOTE: All $$$ = USD
Player Winnings
1. Charl Schwartzel (-7): $4,000,000
2. Hennie Du Plessis (-6): $2,125,000
T-3. Branden Grace, Peter Uihlein (-5): $1,500,000
5. Sam Horsfield (-3): $975,000
T-6. Oliver Bekker, Adrian Otaegui (-2): $737,500
8. Dustin Johnson (-1): $625,000
9. Talor Gooch (E): $580,000
T-10. Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell, Justin Harding (+1): $516,667
T-13. Ryosuke Kinoshita, Pablo Larrazabal (+2): $315,000
T-15. Jinichiro Kozuma, Martin Kaymer (+3): $245,000
T-17. Richard Bland, J.C. Ritchie, Laurie Canter (+4): $226,000
T-20. Ian Poulter, Scott Vincent (+5): $190,000
T-22. Shaun Norris, Wade Ormsby, Sergio Garcia (+6): $170,000
T-25. James Piot, Matt Jones, Ian Snyman, Phachara Khongwatmai (+7): $163,000
29. Lee Westwood (+8): $158,000
T-30: Hudson Swafford, Viraj Madappa, Jediah Morgan (+9): $154,000
T-33. Phil Mickelson, Kevin Yuan, Chase Koepka (+10): $146,000
T-38. Oliver Fisher, Blake Windred, David Puig, Hideto Tanihara, Ratchanon Chantananuwat (+11): $136,000
T-43. Bernd Wiesberger, Sihwan Kim (+14): $129,000
45. Turk Petit (+15): $126,000
46. Sadom Kaewkanjana (+17): $124,000
47. Itthipat Buranatanyarat (+23): $122,000
48. Andy Ogletree (+24): $120,000
Team Winnings
- Stinger GC (Hennie Du Plessis, Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel): $3 million / $750,000 each player
- Crushers GC (Phachara Khongwatmai, Travis Smyth, Richard Bland, Peter Uihlein): $1.5 million / $325,000 each player
- Majesticks GC (Laurie Canter, Sam Horsfield, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood): $500,000 / $125,000 each player
