The 2026 PGA Tour season will go down as one of the most memorable of Rory McIlroy's career, almost exclusively due to his successful defence of The Masters.

That supreme triumph aside, however, the year has been a relatively disappointing one when looking at the overall picture. After his win at Augusta in April, McIlroy played nine PGA Tour events. During those outings, he failed to win any and only managed to finish in the top five twice, with both of those coming in the final two events of the year, when the field is reduced in size.

Despite that, the Northern Irishman still managed to find himself sixth in the PGA Tour money list thanks to six top-10s and four top-5s in the 14 events he competed in overall.

McIlroy has accrued almost unparalleled wealth in his time as one of the world's biggest sports stars and is certainly one of the richest golfers in history. Therefore, those who have finished above him on the money list will no doubt be pleased with their achievement.

Despite notching up just the one victory, albeit one of the biggest victories you can get, 2026 was yet another financially fruitful year for McIlroy, adding to his career PGA Tour earnings.

The six-time Major winner pocketed $11,573,749 in earnings this year. That rather healthy sum, however, only leaves him sixth on the money list, so let's see which five golfers managed to earn more than the Grand Slam winner.

• April 2026 — McIlroy defended his Masters title, edging Scottie Scheffler by one shot at Augusta.
• June 2026 — Wyndham Clark survived Shinnecock Hills to win the US Open.
• July 2026 — Cameron Young lost The Open by one shot to Ryan Fox.
• August 2026 — Scheffler romped to an eight-shot FedEx St. Jude Championship victory.
• August 2026 — Scheffler won the Tour Championship at East Lake, sealing another FedEx Cup.

Who Earned More Than Rory McIlroy in 2026?

In fifth place is Jacob Bridgeman, who won $11,589,508 in total from the 25 events he competed in. Bridgeman won two events this year, most notably the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, where he held off a late McIlroy surge.

Next on the list is Wyndham Clark, who took home $14,661,436 in earnings from the 24 tournaments he played. Clark won three tournaments, with the highlight being his US Open win at Shinnecock Hills.

Matt Fitzpatrick ranks third on the list thanks to his winnings of $14,679,817. The Englishman also won three times in 2026 from the 21 events he played.

In second place is Cameron Young. Young only won two events in 2026, but they were both huge wins, coming in the Players Championship and the Cadillac Championship, as well as coming excruciatingly close to winning The Open Championship, where he had to settle for second in the end. The American earned $15,068,482 in winnings from the 20 events he competed in.

Perched atop the money list, and likely to no one's surprise, is Scottie Scheffler.

The world number one ranked golfer had yet another imperious year which saw him win $30,937,525 in prize money in 2026 - over twice that of Young in second place. Scheffler won three times on the tour, with the most notable victories coming in the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the Tour Championship, one of the richest tournaments in golf by prize money.

McIlroy's earnings of $11.5 million may be symbolic of a somewhat underwhelming year when viewed holistically rather than viewed through the highlights. But when that highlight is winning The Masters for the second time in a row, an $11.5 million year becomes priceless.