James Nicholas is no stranger to sharing a breakdown of his costs and earnings after a good week, having done so in the aftermath of the US Open and following his best-ever Korn Ferry Tour finish (T3rd) last October.

February 8, 2026

His five-under 66 was Nicholas’ second of the weekend and helped him end the tournament on 19-under – two strokes in front of the USA’s Norman Xiong.

Remarkably, he had played 29 holes on the Sunday due to the third round being suspended as a result of inclement weather, so Nicholas’ victory was richly deserved.

Topping the leaderboard also sealed a $180,000 winner’s check for Nicholas, and that made up the vast majority of his earnings for the week, but it wasn’t all.

As he has done before the former Yale University golfer revealed a complete breakdown of his earnings and costs for the week in an entertaining Instagram post.

In said video, Nicholas explained that he also picked up an extra $30,000 or so in bonus money from his sponsors, taking his total income for the week to roughly $210,000.

You may like

James Nicholas poses with the winner's check after claiming the Astara Golf Championship title in 2026

(Image credit: Getty Images)

However, as is the case for every pro golfer, the winner’s check differs greatly from the amount of money players actually take home in the end.

While Nicholas did not discuss factors like taxes, he did share almost everything else that he paid for throughout his week in Bogota.

Starting with flights, Nicholas and his wife spent $2,100 on return tickets before adding on another $72 for taxis and $253 for their accommodation during their time in Colombia.

James Nicholas and his caddie Brian after their win at the 2026 Astara Golf Championship in Bogota, Colombia

Nicholas and his caddie Brian after their win at the 2026 Astara Golf Championship

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In regard to Nicholas’ caddie, Brian, he earned $1,750 as a base salary but was rewarded with 10% of the winner’s check as a bonus – taking his week’s earnings to $19,750.

Despite the cost of living in Colombia being much lower than in the United States, Nicholas said that he spent just over $1,000 on food and groceries. However, he quickly clarified that a large portion of that was spent on a celebratory meal for him and his team in the aftermath of Sunday’s victory.

There was a $20 locker-room fee and club-repair fee included, and Nicholas revealed that he also handed a $500 tip to the attendants at the end of the week, noting that “they deserve it” because of all the helpful work they do.

The final standalone cost for Nicholas was $42 for a massage, and that took his total spend to $22,785 after just one week on tour.

Nevertheless, the 28-year-old was able to reflect on a total profit (before tax) of $187,215 thanks to his Astara Golf Championship win, ending the video by stating “I’ve never made that much before!”

Nicholas has moved up to third in the Korn Ferry Tour standings and could end the year progressing onto the PGA Tour if results continue to follow a similar trend to last week.

On the PGA Tour, there is a $500,000 stipend available to players as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in prize money payouts, so Nicholas’ breakdowns could feature even bigger numbers very soon.