Follow us on Google Discover Eddie Pepperell has claimed that professional golfers spend around $40,000 during the week of The Masters, with the Englishman also revealing what percentage of prize money players end up keeping.
Pepperell turned professional back in 2011. He has gone on to win twice on the DP World Tour, while his only appearance at The Players Championship saw the 35-year-old finish in a tie for third at TPC Sawgrass.
Of course, there is a perception that the vast majority of professional golfers earn eye-watering sums. The formation of LIV Golf and the impact their arrival has had on the PGA Tour has only added to that perception over the last few years.
It is going to be difficult to elicit sympathy for those who get to play golf for a living. Scottie Scheffler has earned more prize money than anyone else who has ever played on the PGA Tour, having won more than $130 million.
But it may surprise some to learn just how much players at the highest level also have to spend.
Eddie Pepperell reveals how much playing at The Masters in 2019 cost him
Speaking on the Business Of Sport podcast, Pepperell revealed the outlay from his debut appearance at The Masters back in 2019.
“Major weeks are incredibly expensive. When I went to The Masters, the house alone was $20,000. So you’re spending $30-$40,000 on one week alone to play a major championship I would say minimum, particularly at Augusta, which is why invariably you end up selling a lot of your ticket allocation just to help pay for the week,” he said.
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Pepperell also spoke about how much prize money players are able to hold onto once they have covered all of their costs.
“People would probably be fascinated to appreciate and realise the outgoings, the extent of the outgoings of a professional golfer, particularly on coaching staff. You start with a caddie, they get eight per cent, you then add a coach, swing coach, five per cent, putting coach, probably four per cent, physio, two or three per cent, psychologist, you’re soon up in the region of 20 per cent. So if you earn a million quid in a year, well £200,000 has just gone on percentage expenditure. And then you’ve got fixed costs on top, and then you’ve got tax,” he said.
“A rule of thumb as it was explained to me when I first turned pro by my accountant, and he was spot on, was you will see about a third of what you receive, and I think that’s right when all’s said and done, it is about 33 per cent that you end up net-profiting, which of course, is still an awful lot of money during a good year as a professional golfer.”
The ‘positive’ change the DP World Tour made following the formation of LIV Golf
LIV Golf certainly changed the game when it came along in 2022. Not only did the breakaway league offer players incredible sums to make the jump from the PGA Tour or DP World Tour, but they also forced the established tours to give players greater reasons to stay.
Jon Rahm led the money list on the PGA Tour in 2021, earning less than $8 million. Scheffler, meanwhile, received more than $30 million in 2026.
And Pepperell revealed a significant change that took place on the DP World Tour following LIV’s arrival.
“Now the DP World Tour give you a stipend where they ensure effectively you’re not going to be out of pocket come year end if you missed every cut. I think it’s £120,000 which they will basically say, look, if you miss every cut, we’re going to pay you this as a minimum. That’s a new thing. And I’ve come around to accepting that’s probably a good thing, because that wasn’t in place pre-LIV. So when we talk about the things that LIV has, the ulterior impacts that LIV has had on the game, that’s one of them, and I’d say that’s a positive to be fair,” he said.
“I didn’t originally [support the idea] because I was okay with the fact that a player could miss 25 cuts and lose £100,000 in a year. As difficult as that might be, there’s an awful lot that would have been learned during that process. So my view was from a character development standpoint, it will be tough financially, but crikey, it’s an unusual position to be in and it’s going to teach you some pretty interesting lessons. I wasn’t automatically of the view, and me and a good friend Laurie Canter, who’s played on LIV, we butted heads on this argument because he was of the view, no, you should be paid to play. I’ve come around to his way of thinking.”
While there is intrigue surrounding the amount of money players earn, there is no question that most golf fans have grown tired of prize money being such a focal point of the current game.
It does not seem to be sustainable. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia walked away from LIV earlier this year after just a handful of seasons.
So it is going to be interesting to see how the respective tours handle the next few years after spending so much to survive during the chaos.
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