While Bryson DeChambeau received a record £100 million contract to join LIV Golf, he does not have the highest wages on the controversial breakaway tour.

The American star may have landed the biggest signing bonus since making the Saudi-backed switch, but Jon Rahm now earns more according to reports.

Jon Rahm is the world's highest-paid athlete in 2023 after move to LIV Golf

Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

The Spaniard agreed a deal worth a staggering £237 million to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf last year. That dwarfs the sums paid to his fellow rebels like Dustin Johnson (£100m) and Brooks Koepka (£102m).

Even Phil Mickelson, who was the first top player to sign up to the new league, only banked £158m in guaranteed money. 

DeChambeau's contract made him golf's richest athlete on joining but he has now been dethroned by Rahm's eye-watering wages.

The former world No. 1 demanded top dollar to sever ties with the establishment tour and reportedly landed a package exceeding £450m when all facets are combined.

Rahm's move in December 2023 raised eyebrows across the sport but he insisted money was not the sole motivating factor in his controversial jump to the Saudi-funded circuit.

"This decision was for many reasons what I thought was best for me," Rahm said. "Don't get me wrong, it's a great deal. I had a really good offer in front of me, and it's one of the reasons why I took it, right? They really put me in a position where I had to think about it and I did."

Read more: LIV Golf Returns to The States with $25 Million Event in Nashville

How does DeChambeau's prize money from LIV Golf events compare to his earnings from other tournaments

Photo: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

When Bryson signed with LIV Golf back in 2022, he reportedly inked a 4-year deal worth $125 million. That made his contract one of the sweeter ones at the time, even if Jon Rahm eventually topped it with a $300 million deal.

So far in 2024, Bryson has been racking up some serious cash. Through the first 8 LIV events he finished top 10 three times, earning over $3.4 million total.

But some of his fattest paydays came at the majors. At the Masters in April he took home $670k for coming 6th. Then at the PGA Championship he cashed a $2 million check as the runner up.

His biggest prize by far was winning the US Open. That victory was worth a whopping $4.3 million - more than the usual $3-4 million first place pays out in LIV.

Adding up all his LIV and major earnings, Bryson's bank balance is sitting pretty at over $10 million for the year so far.

While LIV Golf has been providing a nice steady income, it's clear Bryson's true jackpot performances have come at the big tournaments - especially snagging that US Open title. So while Saudi money has helped, the majors have really taken his career money to the next level in 2024.

How does Rahm's earnings from LIV Golf compare to his earnings from the PGA Tour

In his 7 LIV Golf events so far, Rahm has earned $6.6 million, averaging $942k per tournament.

In comparison, over his 153 PGA Tour career events Rahm averaged $337k in earnings per start.

So Rahm is making nearly 3 times as much per event on average on LIV Golf.

Rahm's total PGA Tour career earnings were $51.6 million from official events and $1.62 million more from others.

His reported $300 million LIV contract dwarfs that $77.2 million total career PGA income.

At over 4 times his PGA Tour career earnings, the LIV deal provided a massive windfall.

The substantially higher per-event payouts and immense contract size show Rahm is profiting much more from LIV than he did on the PGA Tour.

References: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/golf/bryson-dechambeau-liv-golf-tour-33078164

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