There’s no denying that being a professional in any sport has its rewards. For some the goal is fame, for others it’s about becoming the best of the best. But all of them generally earn millions and millions of dollars. Professional footballers are some of the highest-paid people in the world, but even they don’t hold a candle to the kind of money that pro golfers make.

Tiger Woods is a good example of this as he still holds the record for making the most money of any athlete of all time. Professional golfers have traditionally made more than most other kinds of sports players, and here we will look at some of the main reasons for that.

Individual Players

There are not a lot of sports where there’s only a single individual playing on their own, especially at a professional level. Some of the most popular sports in the world, including football, cricket, and rugby are all team-based sports, which means that rewards generally must be spread across all of players.

This is not the same for golf, where individual players are all fighting against one another to earn a single prize. In some instances, this price can be worth tens of millions of dollars, and it’s a big part of the reason that players like Tiger Woods earn such huge sums of money.

High Risk

Another important aspect of professional golfing to keep in mind is that the only way to win serious money is by winning. In a sport like football, the players get their money regardless of whether the team wins or not.

This isn’t the same in golf; if a player does not come out on top at the end of the tournament, they will make a fraction of what the main winner will make. This means that professional golf is a lot “riskier” than a lot of other sports, but like FIFA World Cup betting, that risk is well worth it for a chance at the ultimate prize.

Tournament Purses

A purse refers to the final prize pool of money that a player has a chance of winning if they can beat their competition on the course. The purse is often dependent on how popular the event is and how many sponsors it attracts.

Some of the more well-known golf tournaments, including the PGA Tour, the Masters, and the LPGA are all some of the world’s biggest sporting events, drawing in thousands of bystanders while millions watch on their TV or mobile device of choice.

This is a big draw for sponsors, who want to put their advertisements up around the tournaments for everyone to see. And it’s the collective amount of cash from these sponsors and other sources that gets added to the prize pool, which can grow to enormous amounts by the time that the tournament has come to an end.