What Talor Gooch will do with $36 million he won on LIV Golf; others who hit the LIV lottery

Talor Gooch had a vision of how winning over $10 million in his debut season on the LIV Golf tour could be life-changing.

And he was absolutely right.

However, what he can now achieve to help others through his foundation far surpasses that.

Gooch concluded a season recently in which he took home over $36 million, with half of that coming from his bonus for winning the individual title for the entire season on LIV Golf.

Since becoming a part of the Saudi-backed league, Gooch has amassed a total of $46.5 million in earnings from 22 events over 18 months.

Contrast this with his previous seven-plus years on the PGA Tour, where he made 123 starts and earned $9.3 million.

“I never could have imagined making this much money playing golf,” Gooch expressed.

When asked about how this newfound wealth will change his life, Gooch humbly responded, “It’s not about me. The goal is to make a significant impact on the lives of others, and I assure you, we will achieve that with this amount of money.

“We have built strong partnerships and organizations that we support, and we will continue to do so, but on a much larger scale. Our reach is now much broader, so during this offseason, our primary focus is figuring out our next steps.”

Gooch has surpassed Jupiter’s Dustin Johnson in prize money over LIV’s first two seasons. Note that this figure doesn’t include the signing bonuses received by each player upon joining LIV, nor does it factor in the team prize money that varies from one captain to another.

Gooch, who won three times in 13 individual events, stated, “Undoubtedly, this has been the best year of my career. We took it to a whole new level. We were close last year on a few occasions but couldn’t seal the deal.

“Once we secured our first win in Australia, it fueled my confidence and unlocked a new level of golf and self-belief within me.”

In spite of his success, Gooch’s world golf ranking has fallen to 214 from a peak of 31 in March 2022. Since he hasn’t won a major – with his best finish being tied for 14th at the 2022 Masters – he won’t qualify for the majors

“Playing in the majors represents the epitome of golf,” Gooch disclosed. “Of course, it would be disappointing if I never get that chance. Hopefully, the golf community will come together and determine how to ensure that the best of the best compete in the top tournaments consistently, and that includes the majors.”

In LIV’s second season, Gooch, Cameron Smith ($22.2 million), and Jupiter’s Brooks Koepka ($17.7 million) emerged as the top earners. Bryson DeChambeau ($14.7 million) was the only other player to exceed $10 million, with Harold Varner likely reaching that milestone when accounting for team earnings. Officially, Varner has earned around $9.93 million.

Varner has accumulated $11.4 million since joining LIV in 2022; prior to that, he made $10.6 million over 11 years on the PGA Tour.

More: Bryson DeChambeau’s theatrics lead Crushers GC to LIV Golf team championship

Several others have also benefited from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to establish a presence in the world of golf:

Even Chase Koepka profited from his brief tenure with LIV. Brooks Koepka’s brother had earned approximately $415,000 in prize money between the PGA and European Tours during his six-year professional career. However, he has now accumulated $6.3 million on the LIV Tour, including $2 million this season.

Koepka, despite finishing in the bottom four of the season-long individual standings, has been demoted. He must finish in the top three of LIV’s promotion event in December to earn a spot back in the league.

This article was originally published on Palm Beach Post: LIV golfers cashing in big time, including Talor Gooch with $36 million in 2023