How one golfer earned over $1 billion in 12 months

If Jon Rahm has any haters left criticising his move to LIV Golf, he probably can’t hear them from atop his pile of cash.
The Spanish superstar rocked the sport late last year when he accepted a reported $908 million (AUD) sign-on bonus to get into bed with the rebel organisation.
He was hammered at the time, largely due to the fact he had previously whacked other players for ditching the PGA Tour to chase the Saudi riches.
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Loyalists maintain winning an LIV event is not comparable to winning on an established tour in America or Europe.
But if there were any self doubts following the switch, Rahm’s victory on Monday morning probably quelled those.
Jon Rahm has filled his bank account since joining LIV Golf. Nine
He won LIV Chicago to clinch the season’s individual title in his debut year.
The event victory netted him $5.96m while he added a $26.8m bonus on top of that for topping the season leaderboard. There is still one tournament to come on the calendar.
Rahm won only twice this year – in the UK and in Miami – but has netted himself $52.42m in prize money alone.
He had to skip one LIV event and also the US Open due to a toe infection.
In comparison it took world No.1 Scottie Scheffler eight season wins – including the lucrative FedEx Cup title – to pocket about $90m in prize money. He also took gold at the Olympics.
When taking into account his $908m signing fee in November, Rahm has earned himself more than $960m in 12 months – with sponsorships and other paydays thrown in you can guarantee he has raked in more than $1 billion since joining LIV.
The man who once denounced LIV Golf is certainly enjoying what it has to offer now.
“For anybody out there that’s wondering, it is a little bit different experience than any other tour out there,” he said after winning in Chicago on Monday.
“But it is (a) closer experience to pretty much any other sport there.
“I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being able to go to Adelaide, Hong Kong, Singapore, all those places in Asia and Australia was quite unique and so much fun.
Jon Rahm of Spain celebrates after winning LIV Golf Chicago. Getty
“I hadn’t played in that part of the world and to see the crowd, the love they had for us and support for the game, was absolutely heartwarming just to be a part of that.
“I think this league has got quite a bit of a bad rap without people having experienced it, they’ve been too quick to judge, and I think the vast majority of them would absolutely love spending a day out here.”
It’s not all roses for Rahm, however.
Last week he revealed he is yet to pay fines for his LIV defection which would pave the way for his Ryder Cup selection.
Meantime, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf remains in negotiations about what a merged calendar may look like, having brokered a peace deal a year ago.
Even Rory McIlroy – once LIV’s staunchest critic – admits golf will be better off once the world’s best men’s players can tee it up side by side again.