Tiger Woods was 24 and going for his seventh straight win when he tied for second at Torrey Pines. The check was $264,000. It made him the PGA Tour's all-time money leader, which nobody really thought much about at the time. It was Feb. 13, 2000.
He never moved from atop that list. Even through the swing changes, the surgeries and the years he barely played at all.
Woods was the all-time earnings leader for over 26 years, until Sunday.
Scottie Scheffler took that title from him Sunday afternoon in Atlanta. It took him less than a decade.
Scheffler began the final round of the Tour Championship three shots behind, but passed Viktor Hovland on the back nine and won his second FedEx Cup. The win was worth $10 million and it moved him to $130,390,661
for his career. Woods sits at $120, 999,166.
Nobody is saying their careers are close.
Woods won 82 times and took 15 majors. Scheffler is 30 with 22 wins and four majors. But times have changed. Woods beat Davis Love III in a playoff in Las Vegas in 1996 for his first Tour title and he got a check worth $297,000. The man who finished last at East Lake on Sunday made $355,000.
But Woods took to social media to congratulate Scheffler on his 2026 season.
"Three wins, five runner-ups and finishing the season No. 1. Those are some numbers to be proud of. Incredible consistency all season long. Congrats on a historic season, Scottie," Woods wrote on X.com.
PGA career money List
Through 2026 Tour Championship
- Scottie Scheffler — $130,390,661
- Tiger Woods — $120,999,166
- Rory McIlroy — $119,555,515
- Justin Rose — $79,356,373
- Adam Scott — $74,880,596
- Justin Thomas — $74,568,294
- Jim Furyk — $71,507,269
- Vijay Singh — $71,312,738
- Xander Schauffele — $70,124,484
- Jordan Spieth — $69,044,203
- Hideki Matsuyama — $68,160,524
- Jason Day — $66,736,267
- Patrick Cantlay — $64,237,604
- Matt Kuchar — $62,078,202
- Rickie Fowler — $59,113,971
- Keegan Bradley — $58,350,061
- Russell Henley — $54,853,988
- Collin Morikawa — $52,769,682
- Tommy Fleetwood — $51,145,274
- Zach Johnson — $50,249,848
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Scottie Scheffler ends the longest run in PGA Tour's money game
