Scheffler Tees Up Endorsement Bonanza After Dominant Masters Win

All eyes may have been on a returning Tiger Woods going into the 2022 Masters, but in the end, it was an ascendant Scottie Scheffler who turned in a dominant performance that solidified his place as the world’s top golfer, with a shot now also becoming one of the sport’s highest-paid stars.

Scheffler capped a whirlwind two-month stretch that included his first four PGA Tour victories and his ascent to No. 1 on the Official World Golf Rankings, winning his first green jacket Sunday after beating back a late run from Rory McIlroy to finish three strokes ahead at Augusta National Golf Club.

Before Sunday’s win, the 25-year-old star was already having a banner earnings year, pulling in prize money of $10.1 million since the start of the 2021-22 PGA season in September, more than double the $4.5 million he earned last season. This year’s tally includes the $2.7 million Scheffler collected Sunday, the largest share of the Masters’ $15 million prize pool. Off the course, Forbes estimates that Scheffler earned $6 million in base pay and bonuses from sponsors that include Nike, TaylorMade and Titleist over the last 12 months. If Scheffler can stay hot and capitalize on his Masters-driven surge in popularity, his total haul for the season could cross $20 million.

“Scottie was on fire prior to this tournament but many thought he was just on a streak. This win solidifies the prior wins and propels him to the clear number player in the world,” Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business associate professor Tim Derdenger says in an email. He added: “His $2.7 million payout will only be a fraction of his overall payout from his future endorsement deals.”

Born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Scheffler grew up in Dallas, later attending Highland Park High School, the alma mater of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. After a standout career at the University of Texas, in which he helped his school win three Big 12 championships, Scheffler joined the PGA Tour in 2018.

With the tour’s next major five weeks away, Scheffler has a chance to continue his extraordinary run of success at the PGA Championship in Tulsa.

“To do it in such a short period of time is very Tiger-like,” Derdenger says, in reference to the 46-year-old Woods, who was the world’s No. 1 golfer for a record 683 weeks total–and the world’s highest-paid athlete for 10 years. “Future endorsement deals should be bountiful for him and he should capitalize on this Major win by selectively picking deals that help him craft his brand.”