In the 2025 season, three names predominantly dominate the golf scenes – Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Rory McIlroy. The only thing that sets them apart is where they competed.

Scheffler operated inside a performance-heavy PGA Tour system. Meanwhile, Rahm maximized LIV Golf’s limited-field model. And McIlroy? Competing across tours, remained tied to majors as the common measuring stick. So here's how they stack up.

Scottie Scheffler Dominated the PGA Tour

Scheffler’s 2025 season witnessed 20 cuts across 20 starts, along with six victories. He opened the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which ended with a T9 finish and a paycheck of $535,000. His first million-dollar check came through the Genesis Invitational, where he finished T3. The Masters Tournament witnessed his real growth as he ended up in the fourth spot and earned $1,008,000. 

Scottie Scheffler later won the CJ CUP Byron Nelson, the PGA Championship, the Memorial Tournament, The Open Championship, BMW Championship, and the Procore Championship. He finished inside the top-10 seventeen times, and all of his starts ended with a top-20 finish. Sportrac calculated earnings for the year, including bonuses, at a whopping $50,659,550. 

By season’s end, he remained the world #1, inside the top tier of the FedExCup standings, and firmly established as the PGA Tour’s competitive benchmark rather than just its highest earner.

Jon Rahm’s 2025 Season With LIV Golf

Jon Rahm’s 2025 campaign unfolded across the LIV Golf calendar without relying on frequent wins. He opened the season with a runner-up finish in Riyadh, carding a three-round total of 201 and collecting $2,625,000. Strong finishes followed in Adelaide (T6) and Hong Kong (T6) before another top-five showing in Singapore, where he finished T5 and earned just under $1 million.

Rahm continued to stay inside contention through the middle of the season. He placed fourth in Mexico City, finished runner-up again in Andalucia, and added another second-place finish in Indianapolis. Andalucia brought him the single biggest payout, amounting to $3 million. 

Major appearances complemented his LIV results, including a T8 finish at the PGA Championship and a T7 at the U.S. Open. But his earnings from the major championships went to $422,517. 

Towards the end of the season, he had amassed $38,751,876 in on-course earnings. With 17 appearances through the year, Rahm stayed as the #1 LIV golfer. 

Rory McIlroy’s 2025 Season Across Two Tours

McIlroy’s 2025 season unfolded across both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, placing him among the few elite players. He opened the year with a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, earning $3.6 million. The PLAYERS Championship also witnessed a win and brought him his largest paycheck of $4.5 million. 

But at the Masters Tournament, he finally claimed victory and completed the career Grand Slam. He finished the week with a winner’s paycheck of $4.2 million. 

He made 16 starts and missed the cut on one event. While his season did not feature the same volume of wins as Scheffler’s, McIlroy remained a frequent presence on leaderboards. He finished the year with eight top-10s and 14 top-25s.

Financially, McIlroy’s stance brought him $16,992,418 in official money. Including bonuses, his total earnings reached $30,492,418. And by the end of 2025, he ranked T23 in the FedExCup standings.

But earnings and titles aside, who among these three did you root for throughout the season? Did your favorite come out on top in this comparison? Tell us in the comments.

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi