Tiger Woods Has Made an Estimated $1.2 BILLION For Other Pro Golfers

Tiger Woods hasn’t won a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open, but the 40-year-old is still a cash cow for the golfing world. So much so that a new estimate claims he has put at least $1.2 billion into the pockets of other golfers.

No Laying Up has a comprehensive breakdown of how they arrived at that number, and it’s hard to argue with the site’s assessment.

Since 1990 purses have risen by nearly 500 percent, from $51.2 million to $306.9 million. When adjusted for inflation, that growth is still a spectacular 241 percent (from $89.9 million to $306.9 million). In what they term the “Pre-Tiger” Era (1990 to 1996), purses went from $89.9 million to $111.8 million, but from 1997 to 2004 they grew from $124.6 million to $315.9 million. That’s an insane jump and it came right in the middle of Tiger’s arrival on the scene.

Then, to prove the point that Tiger equals money, the estimate shows that from 2005 to 2012, purses began to fall off in concert with Woods’ fall from grace. They dropped from $315 million to $306.9 million during the “Postmodern Tiger” Era.

Now, to prove that Tiger put actual money in other golfers’ pockets, the study imagines five worlds in which Woods never existed. It’s an interesting look, basically decreasing the purse growth by 25 percent five times. In the median world in which golf purses would have increased by just 50 percent of what they have, $1.33 billion would have been lost in total purses from 1997, when Tiger arrived, to 2012. I think any reasonable person would assume that Tiger had at least that much impact.

When taking away Tiger’s $134.7 million in earnings over that same period, you’re left with the $1.2 billion figure. Which, as the study points out, is roughly the 2013 GDP of Antigua and Barbuda.

While this breakdown assumes a lot and is clearly correlative, it is hard to argue that Woods had a massive impact on golf’s revenues. Salaries in all major sports have spiked over the same period thanks largely to television revenue, but golf got a superstar at the exact right time to exploit those numbers.

Since his very public meltdown, Woods hasn’t been the same on the course. But his impact on the game can still be felt anytime another golfer picks up a check.