Golf is making just its third appearance in the Olympic Games this year after over a century missing from the international sporting event. And while pro golfers in the field are surrendering a portion of their personal interests to play on behalf of their countries this week, there is some money on the line in Paris.
But how much a player will earn for making the podium at Le Golf National is highly dependent on one factor: which country they are representing.
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To be fair, most of the men’s Olympic golf competitors play for millions of dollars week-in and week-out on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. And they are certainly not playing for those kinds of sums at the Olympics. And even for golfers from outside the elite ranks who don’t have many millions stacked in their bank accounts, winning a medal at the Paris Olympics is not about the money.
That being said, considerable money is up for grabs, but considerably more for certain Olympic golfers. It turns out, certain countries award all of their Olympic medal winners financially, with set amounts for winning gold, silver or bronze in any sport. It’s the same amount for men and women, but payouts vary country-to-country.
Should Xander Schauffele, for example, forge ahead and win his second-straight gold medal on Sunday in France, he’ll earn $38,000, the same amount superstar American gymnast Simone Biles earned for each of her golds this week. The same goes for defending women’s gold medalist Nelly Korda next week during the women’s Olympic golf event.
And if World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finishes second, he’ll take home an American silver paycheck worth $23,000. A bronze would see any member of the U.S. golf squad earn $15,000.
But the U.S. has among the smallest medal payouts at the Olympics. Should Jon Rahm of Spain win gold, he’ll take a home a sizeable sum of $102,000, or $52,000 for silver and $33,000 for bronze.
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Australia’s Olympic golfers, which include former World No. 1 Jason Day, are playing for relatively paltry sums: $13,000 for gold, $10,000 for silver and $7,000 for bronze.
Who is the Olympic golfer with the potential to win the most money in Paris? That would be Shannon Tan, who will compete in the women’s event as Singapore’s first Olympic golfer. Singapore pays gold-medal winners a whopping $745,000. Even a bronze medal would see Tan take home $185,000.
Below you can see a list of Olympic medal payouts for countries that offer them, courtesy of CNBC (all figures in USD and rounded to nearest thousand).
2024 Olympic golf purse, payouts, money
Hong Kong: Gold – $768,000; Silver – $384,000; Bronze – $192,000
Singapore: Gold – $745,000; Silver – ; Bronze – $186,000
Indonesia: Gold – $300,000; Silver – $150,000; Bronze – $60,000
Israel: Gold – $271,000; Silver – $216,000; Bronze – $135,000
Republic of Kazakhstan: Gold – $250,000; Silver – $150,000; Bronze – $75,000
Malaysia: Gold – $216,000; Silver – $65,000; Bronze – $22,000
Spain: Gold – $102,000; Silver – $52,000; Bronze – $33,000
France: Gold – $87,000; Silver – $43,000; Bronze – $22,000
South Korea: Gold – $45,000; Silver – $25,000; Bronze – $18,000
United States: Gold – $38,000; Silver – $23,000; Bronze – $15,000
Japan: Gold – $32,000; Silver – $13,000; Bronze – $6,000
Poland: Gold – $25,000; Silver – $19,000; Bronze – $14,000
Germany: Gold – $22,000; Silver – $16,000; Bronze – $11,000
Australia: Gold – $13,000; Silver – $10,000; Bronze – $7,000
