Golfer Rory McIlroy stands to earn just over $400 million (€328 million) during the remainder of his professional career, according to a new report ranking the financial prospects of male players.
Shane Lowry also makes the cut, ranking in 30th spot on the list with expected future earnings of $57 million.
Duff & Phelps’ golf-focused future career value study ranks more than 1,000 male professional golfers on their expected earnings. The top-10 players are slated to earn a combined $2.15 billion, up from $1.89 billion a year earlier due primarily to the $40 million Player Impact Programme, which rewards players judged to have driven the most fan and sponsorship engagement.
McIlroy, who is considered one of the PGA Tours’ most marketable players beyond Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, is ranked eighth in the official world-golf rankings with earnings of $3.26 million so far this year.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, which tracks the 1,000 wealthiest people in the UK, he had an estimated fortune of £170 million (€ 198 million) as of last year.
McIlroy is forecast to earn $401 million during the rest of his career. This is about one-third more than the current number-one world golfer Justin Thomas who ranks second on Duff & Phelps list with future career earnings of $299 million. Rounding out the top five are Bryson DeChambeau on $225 million, Xander Schauffele on $204 million, and Dustin Johnson at $202 million.
McIlroy, has seen his projected future career earnings rise sharply in the last year. In the inaugural study published last November he was expected to earn $309 million over the remaining years of his career to the age of 50.
Commenting on the golfer, the report says MclIroy is a “highly endorsable crowd favourite”.
“He’s midway through two 10-year contracts (Nike and TaylorMade) with a combined value of $200 million and is the namesake of an EA Sports video game . . . with 6.6 million followers, he’s the second most influential golfer on social media,” it adds.
Tiger Woods, who has been out of the game recently due to injuries sustained in a car crash, stays in the top-10 earners due to his brand power.
Endorsement deals
The study found that brand power plays a critical role in future earnings potential, as only one-third of professional golfers’ earnings will come from tournament winnings over their careers, with the rest coming from endorsement deals.
Eight of the top -10 entrants on the future career value leaderboard also made the cut last year, with only Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa joining the elite this time out.
“We are finding that brand power is a strong factor in driving a player’s value as exemplified by Tiger Woods’s ranking, despite his difficulties this year,” said Niall Cribben, managing director of Duff & Phelps Ireland.
“Performance metrics are only a part of the equation and it seems that in predicting player earnings, what happens off the course is as important as what happens on it,” he added.
