By Oisin Doherty

Copyright belfastlive

2025 will forever be etched in the annals of golf history as the year Rory McIlroy finally clinched his first major, securing The Masters at Augusta and achieving grand-slam champion status . Yet, the year truly belongs to Scottie Scheffler. The American golfer has been on top form this year, delivering one of the most commanding seasons in recent memory. His triumph at the Procore Championship last weekend marked his sixth victory on the PGA Tour this season, with two of those wins being majors at the PGA Championship and The Open in July. Given his stellar performance on the green, it’s hardly surprising that Scheffler has raked in a staggering amount of prize money on the PGA Tour this season. Just how much? A cool $27,659,550 to be precise. This jaw-dropping sum is just shy of $2million less than the record set in 2024 by none other than Scottie Scheffler himself. The Texan’s supremacy on the course is something to marvel at, reminiscent of the golden era of Tiger Woods. What makes Scheffler’s financial success even more remarkable is when you compare it to that of McIlroy. Our own Northern Irishman McIlroy has had an outstanding 2025, bagging The Masters and three other major championships, the third of which was won at the Irish Open in a thrilling finish just last week. The grand-slam champion pocketed a whopping $16,992,418 for his PGA Tour performances this season, nearly $10million less than the formidable Scheffler. If you add Shane Lowry’s total winnings of $7,082,794, World number one Scheffler still surpasses the combined figure of Lowry and McIlroy ($24,075,212). This raises the question, how many more Irish golfers’ earnings need to be added before Scheffler is finally overtaken? Seamus Power from Waterford has had a middling season by his own high standards, recording just one top-10 finish for the year. However, he still pocketed $933,685, bringing our Irish total to $25,008,897, which is still over $2.5million short of Scheffler. We then turn to the PGA Champions Tour where this year Ireland’s Padraig Harrington claimed victory in both the Senior Open and US Open. These wins helped him amass a season total of $1,833,486. This takes the Irish total up to $26,842,383. Add Darren Clarke’s $1,219,223 into the mix, and the Irish total finally surpasses that of the four-time major winner. To put it simply, Scottie Scheffler has earned $27,659,550 this year, while the combined Irish PGA Tour and Champions Tour figure comes to $28,061,606. An absolutely staggering sum of money, and a figure that illustrates just how dominant Scheffler has been throughout the season. His next event is the Ryder Cup, where there is no prize money at stake. Only pride, and after a humbling experience in 2023, Europe should be on guard as Scheffler looks to dictate the course of the match.