The trappings of wealth don’t really show on Aaron Rai who remains humble to the core despite his ascension to golf’s top table and the financial rewards that come with it.
His iron covers are a reminder of a time when his clubs were something that his family immigrant could ill afford and therefore must be cherished, and even though he’s now getting paid to play specific equipment, his outlook remains the same.
His incredible back nine at Aronimink Country Club saw him separate himself from a log-jammed leaderboard and become the first Englishman since Jim Barnes in 2019 to win the PGA Championship, but while Barnes’ share of the $2,580 purse was $500, Rai picked up $3.69 million from the $20.5 million on offer this week.
Having claimed his maiden PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship in 2024, his second victory takes his total PGA Tour career earnings north of $16 million.
Jon Rahm, who’s averaged more than $2 million a start in prizemoney since moving to LIV, took a slight pay cut as he and Alex Smalley shared second and each picked up just over $1.8 million.
For Smalley, yet to win a PGA Tour event, it was a career-high payday, and this season is already the most lucrative of his professional career to date.
Rory McIlroy’s driving woes returned in the final round and thwarted his bid to become the first player in history to win all four majors in the same year. He has to console himself with $637,050 for finishing tied for seventh, while Pádraig Harrington’s impressive week’s work earned him $221k and change and Shane Lowry had to settle for just over $50k.
On the LPGA Tour, Lottie Woad reigned supreme at the Kroger Queen City Championship and claimed her second LPGA Tour win. She collects the $300,000 first prize and has now earned over $1.6 million on the LPGA Tour since turning professional less than a year ago.
Leona Maguire’s two late birdies on Friday which saw her squeeze through to the weekend were rewarded with a cheque for just over $12k after she shot back-to-back one-under-par weekend rounds, taking her season’s earnings to $384k and her career earnings to $5.8 million on the LPGA alone.
It was a good week for Irish elsewhere as Gary Hurley finished tied for third at the HotelPlanner Tour’s Challenge de Catalunya and earned €18,000 along with crucial Road to Mallorca rankings points that lifted him into the projected promotion places.
John Murphy also secured a nice paycheque and a confidence-boosting victory when he landed the Clutch Pro Tour’s Crondon Park Classic in England. The Kinsale man earned £8,000 and climbed to second in the Clutch Order of Merit with the top three earning promotion to the HotelPlanner Tour for 2027.
PGA Championship selected payouts
| Position | Player | Score | Earnings |
| 1 | Aaron Rai | -9 | $3,690,000 |
| T2 | Jon Rahm | -6 | $1,804,000 |
| T2 | Alex Smalley | -6 | $1,804,000 |
| T4 | Justin Thomas | -5 | $843,867 |
| T4 | Ludvig Aberg | -5 | $843,867 |
| T4 | Matti Schmid | -5 | $843,867 |
| T7 | Cameron Smith | -4 | $637,050 |
| T7 | Rory McIlroy | -4 | $637,050 |
| T7 | Xander Schauffele | -4 | $637,050 |
| T10 | Kurt Kitayama | -3 | $496,708 |
| T10 | Chris Gotterup | -3 | $496,708 |
| T10 | Justin Rose | -3 | $496,708 |
| T10 | Patrick Reed | -3 | $496,708 |
| T18 | Padraig Harrington | -1 | $221,832 |
| T44 | Shane Lowry | +2 | $50,348 |
Kroger Queen City Championship selected payouts
| Position | Player | Score | Earnings |
| 1 | Lottie Woad | -12 | $300,000 |
| 2 | Haeran Ryu | -10 | $182,956 |
| 3 | Miyu Yamashita | -9 | $132,721 |
| 4 | Ruoning Yin | -8 | $102,670 |
| T5 | Jin Young Ko | -7 | $75,126 |
| T5 | Amanda Doherty | -7 | $75,126 |
| 7 | Jeeno Thitikul | -6 | $56,594 |
| T8 | Robyn Choi | -5 | $43,072 |
| T8 | Jennifer Kupcho | -5 | $43,072 |
| T8 | Nelly Korda | -5 | $43,072 |
| T8 | Lydia Ko | -5 | $43,072 |
| T33 | Leona Maguire | E | $12,335 |
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