Imago
IMAGE CREDIT: IMAGO
Imago
IMAGE CREDIT: IMAGO
On any regular day, the disparity between men’s and women’s golf is wide enough to overlook. But this year, the LPGA saw an expanding prize pool. At the same time, LIV Golf dipped into financial difficulties as it failed to garner adequate viewership and generate interest among the core golf fanbase. Does that mean its players saw a difference in their earnings? To find that out, let’s dissect two global stars from these respective leagues: Bryson DeChambeau and Nelly Korda.
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Bryson DeChambeau’s hustle—golf and otherwise
The year was 2022 when Bryson DeChambeau shook hands with LIV Golf for at least $125 million. Like others, his decision took shape primarily for the money. Now, three years later, has the switch actually given him what he hoped for?
Across LIV’s 13-event regular season, he played all and took home around $10 million. Some of his best results were a T4 in Virginia, a solo 5 in Miami, and a victory in Korea. This consistency led him to finish the season in third place with a staggering $4 M as a prize. Add to that the $8M he took home as Team Championship runner-up for his Crushers GC in Michigan.
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But LIV wasn’t his only competitive ground.
Even though he can’t compete in the PGA Tour events, he did play in the Majors. From the four, he had a top-10 result in three. These included a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship, which gave him $1.4 M—the biggest pay among these. In the Masters, he had a T5 and a T10 at The Open. Unfortunately, he missed the cut at the US Open, where he was the defending champion. Despite that, he took home around $2.5 M overall. He also took home $500K from his stint at the Ryder Cup. A part of that he had to donate, but the rest ($200k) was for his personal use.
Now, for any regular golfer, these portfolios would be all. But DeChambeau is not like others. With a successful YouTube career, the Mad Scientist has now accumulated 2.5 million subscribers and 478+ million total views. If you convert that into capital, it might have given him an estimated $800k in 2025.
And then, of course, as a marquee player, he has multiple endorsements on his CV. Deals with Reebok, OneStream Software, and Bentley (remember the crazy cup challenge?), credited massive bucks to his account.
In total, DeChambeau’s 2025 earnings reached approximately $20 M. Such a massive figure with comparatively fewer events is possible due to the double-digit purses and lucrative team payouts by LIV. In all, 86% of DeChambeau’s earnings came from tournament play.
Nelly Korda had a winless year, but can the same be said about her money?
After riding on a successful wave last year, Nelly Korda‘s currents crashed straight into a wall. Now, if you call that wall Jeeno Thitikul or the LPGA’s changing competitive ground (29 different winners—a record break), that’s your choice. Still, Korda ended her year with a smile (and a ring on her finger!), which might have something to do with her massive money accumulation.
In total, she earned $2.8 M from the LPGA Tour. That’s not even half of what DeChambeau took home. Yet, that placed her fifth on the season-long money list. If one compares that to Korda’s last season, it is almost half. A struggle to replicate that was visible throughout the season, though.
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The closest she came to winning was at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and the US Open. She finished as runner-up in both and took home $227k and $1.05 M, respectively. The latter was also her highest payout of the year. Second to these was at the CME Group Tour Championship last month, where a solo third gave her $550K.
Unlike DeChambeau, Nelly Korda does not have an alternative career route as a content creator. Although on her Instagram, she enjoys the love of over 1.2 M fans. Whether that yields her any money or not through the platform’s monetization remains unknown.
Where Nelly Korda does outpace Bryson DeChambeau is in endorsements. Her sponsorship income is estimated to be $6 M. Most of these would have come from her consistent collaboration with Nike, with the brand releasing shoes designed by her. Other brands that she partners with are Goldman Sachs, TaylorMade Golf, and T-Mobile.
If you add all that, her estimated net worth comes somewhere around $12 M, as per Forbes.
Changing landscape, still more room to grow
A final comparison between the two players provides a striking image. Bryson DeChambeau’s $20 million is almost 1.6 times Nelly Korda’s 12 M. An $8 M gap, to be specific.
None of this has anything to do with the player’s talent or the quality of play. LIV, by all comparison, is infamous for paying its players highly. The LPGA Tour, on the other hand, has been struggling for years. Its recent collaboration with PIF for the Aramco Championship might be an avenue for bigger prize purses. Still, there’s a long road to go.
Written by
Edited by
Riya Singhal