Scott Alexander Scheffler is one of the rising stars of today’s PGA Tour. At age 26, Scheffler held his first tenure as #1 on the Tour from March to October 2022. Scheffler turned pro in 2018 at age 22, shortly after completing his collegiate career at the University of Texas.
Scottie Scheffler is a young golfer on the rise in the PGA Tour. At age 26, he has a net worth of $4 million, but given his skill and his slate of PGA Tour tournaments with multi-million-dollar purses that he has been pursuing since his professional debut in 2018, his net worth stands to skyrocket over the coming decade.
Bio
Scottie Scheffler gained interest in golf at age 3 when his parents gave him a plastic club and balls set, and he continued to pursue that interest all through childhood, first in his birthplace of New Jersey, then transitioning to Texas when his parents moved to the Lone Star State after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Scheffler’s 6’3” height meant that he was recruited in high school to play basketball as well as his first love, golf. He played for Highland Park High School, a high school in the Dallas suburb of University Park.
Before graduating high school in 2014, Scheffler was recruited to play golf for the University of Texas from the 2014-2018 school years, helping the school win three Big 12 championships in his four years at the school and personally garnering the Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year award in the 2014-15 school year. In 2017 he was part of the US’s winning Walker Cup team. Scheffler graduated from the University of Texas in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance.
In 2016, he qualified for his first U.S. Open but missed the cut by only one stroke. He tried again in 2017 and survived the play-in round to earn a spot in the field, and was one of only two amateurs in that year’s U.S. Open to make the cut. Scheffler finished the 2017 U.S. Open 1 shot under par. After graduating from the University of Texas after the 2018 collegiate golf season, he went professional at age 22. (source)
Scottie Scheffler's Career Earnings
Career Earnings (as of April 10, 2024): $79 Million
Scottie Scheffler has won an impressive array of prizes for his young age. In 2019 he earned the Korn Ferry Player of the Year and Finals Winner distinctions. These are distinctions for young professionals who either are not old enough or have not yet earned enough points to be on the PGA Tour. Transitioning from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour in late 2019, Scheffler earned PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2020, and the following year was the leading money winner and Player of the Year on the PGA Tour. Scheffler’s single-season tournament earnings set a new record for PGA Tour winnings in 2022 of $13.18 million, eclipsing the previous record set by Jordan Spieth in 2015 of $12.03 million. Scheffler and Spieth, along with Vijay Singh in 2004, are the only golfers to earn a higher purse during a single season than Tiger Woods’ 2007 performance of $10.87 million.
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Scottie Scheffler Endorsements and Sponsorships
Skilled young golfers since Jack Nicklaus have been courted by sportswear manufacturers, banks, and sports equipment companies. This trend continued and intensified during the heyday of Tiger Woods, and today, golfers are nearly as attractive for endorsement deals as members of major team sports, such as baseball or football.
Scottie Scheffler has an apparel partnership with Nike, obliging him to wear Nike clothing on the golf course. Most of his clubs come from a deal with TaylorMade, but he uses Titleist balls. His club bag also has some company variety, using wedges made by Vokey and a Scotty Cameron putter. Scheffler is also one of several golfers in the portfolio of Veritex Community Bank, a major partner of the PGA.
In May 2022, Scheffler signed up to be a brand ambassador for GolfForever, the digital golf home fitness system developed by PGA Tour doctors and trainers. GolfForever is a system for golfers of all ages to improve and maintain their fitness. This was his first major endorsement deal since the Masters in March, worth $6 million over the lifetime of the deal. Scheffler as one of the sport’s rising stars is likely to continue inking such influential deals for many years to come.
Scottie Scheffler Salary
Scottie Scheffler, because of his young age and newness to the professional sports circuit, does not have quite the stable of businesses that many older and more experienced athletes tend to put together. His annual salary is the sum of his endorsement earnings and his prize money. He has great earning potential as he explores ways to put his golf purses to work. Scheffler's connections mean it’s unlikely that he will be getting the kind of bad financial advice that has historically sank many athletes into money troubles. Scheffler’s obligations include his caddy, Ted Scott, who previously caddied for Gerry Lester (Bubba) Watson, Jr. for 15 years.
Charity Work
Scottie Scheffler considers himself a Christian and tries to surround himself with other Christian influences. He is an active sponsor of College Golf Fellowship, a faith-based ministry of college golfers like the high school level Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Scheffler also donates to the RSM Birdies Fore Love grant program, providing funds for junior golfers to cover the cost of PGA Junior tour membership in Northern Texas as well as entry fees for tournaments.
Outside of golf, Scheffler actively supports kids’ cancer research through Triumph Over Kids Cancer. Scheffler has also made a large donation to West Dallas Community School. He has, however, been criticized for overly focusing his charity work on charities adjacent to golfing, creating the impression of a relatively focused personality, and future work would be likely to branch out further from his comfortable home in the sport.
Summary
Scottie Scheffler is a rising star in the golf world. Ranked #1 in the world from March to October 2022, he is likely to continue rising in golf, with more periods at #1 in the future. Though his net worth of $4 million as of 2022 is relatively low, his high earning potential and engagement in the sport mean he has a lot of room to grow.
