Scottie Scheffler, the man who’s made more money than any other PGA Tour player this season, is talking about cash.
It’s a trendy topic in golf, of course, and Tuesday, ahead of this week’s Tour Championship, the Tour’s highest-paying event, Scheffler had been asked this question by a reporter:
“If the Tour came to you — you said you’ll play how the sponsors want it. If the sponsors or Strategic Sports Group came in and wanted to completely change things up and make it a match-play event or under the lights, how open do you think Tour players would be to deviating from 72-hole stroke play? Obviously not every week, but in something like if they made the playoffs and they went way outside the box?”
In response, Scheffler labeled it “a really in-depth conversation,” and the rest of his answer reflected that.
He said he hoped to be paid fairly. He said he didn’t care what he’d he get for winning the Masters.
Here’s his complete response:
“Well, it’s a really in-depth conversation,” Scheffler started. “At the end of the day in terms of sponsors, I would play a lot of the tournaments I play throughout the year if the purses were significantly less. I would pick and choose a bit more, but if it was — if it’s the Masters, I’m going to play the Masters. I want a chance to win a major championship. I do not care what you pay me for winning the Masters. I really don’t.
“But at the end of the day in terms of a lot of those tournaments, you just want to get paid what you think would be fair. And then in terms of what sponsors want, if you’ve got FedEx putting up the kind of money they’re putting up for this event, people are going to show up to play.
“It’s a business at the end of the day. It’s part of the game. This is a product that appeals to a lot of people. Sports is entertainment, but at the end of the day I still stand on the side of the fence of my golf clubs will always be my entertainment. If you want to come watch me play golf, that’s what we’re going to see. If you’re showing up, you’re going to watch me play golf. I’m not going to go out on the first tee and do dances and celebrate like crazy. I am going to do my best to compete in a golf tournament. Wherever the best players are competing, I am showing up to those tournaments because I love the competition. That’s really what I enjoy the most.
“As far as the format goes, golf is a funny game. You’re not always going to — there’s no perfect system in order to play a golf tournament that’s the most entertaining product and also the product that gets the best player each time. A lot of times in golf, the guy that plays the best may not even win that week. In terms of little bounces, it’s a fickle game. It’s a challenging sport. I’m open to suggestions. I do still think that 72 holes of stroke play is the best format for a golf tournament, but if a sponsor wants to come in and change it up a little bit, I love competing, and I want to win when we go home and play Wolf for four hours, and I’m giving 20 strokes to a guy.
“I do not want to be giving him money at the end of the day whether it’s $5 or $500. I do not want to take out my wallet and hand him money at the end of the day. That’s just not in my blood. I want to win, whether we’re playing Ping-Pong or whatever it is.
“Whatever the format, I’m going to show up and try and do my best. That’s really all it is.”
With that, here is the complete payout breakdown for this week’s Tour Championship, played at East Lake Golf Club.
How much every player made at the 2024 Tour Championship
1. Scottie Scheffler $25 million
2. Collin Morikawa $12.5 million
3. Sahith Theegala $7.5 million
T4. Russell Henley $4,833,333
Adam Scott $4,833,333
Xander Schauffele $4,833,333
7. Sungjae Im $2.75 million
8. Wyndham Clark $2.25 million
T9. Rory McIlroy $1,608,333
Hideki Matsuyama $1,608,333
Shane Lowry $1,608,333
T12. Viktor Hovland $1 million
Sam Burns $1 million
T14. Taylor Pendrith $905,000
Justin Thomas $905,000
16. Ludvig Aberg $795,000
T17. Robert MacIntyre $755,000
Patrick Cantlay $755,000
Matthieu Pavon $755,000
20. Tommy Fleetwood $715,000
T21. Keegan Bradley $660,000
Byeong Hun An $660,000
T23. Billy Horschel $615,000
Aaron Rai $615,000
Tony Finau $615,000
26. Akshay Bhatia $590,000
T27. Chris Kirk $575,000
Sepp Straka $575,000
T29. Christiaan Bezuidenhout $555,000
Tom Hoge $555,000
