Collin Morikawa is on the fast track to World No 1 but with a golf swing worth $1500 per shot, it is no wonder the 24-year-old is already a two-time major champion.
After graduating with a degree in business from Berkley, Morikawa was always going to do well earnings-wise but it is safe to say he has amassed a fortune greater than any of his classmates.
Following his history-making double in the DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai in November, the American’s total career earnings hit $23,447,798 (£18million) – just two years after turning pro.
Collin Morikawa is on the fast track to World No 1 and is already a two-time major champion
That figure alone is impressive but broken down further his feat becomes even more staggering.
Morikawa has earned roughly $400,000 (£303,000) every time he has teed it up at an event. That’s $103,000 (£78,000) per round.
The American is renowned for his crisp iron play and it is no wonder when each shot is worth $1488 (£1128).
Morikawa has already amassed five PGA Tour wins to his name, including the PGA Championship and the Open – and is a Ryder Cup winner.
But the Champion Golfer of the Year’s earnings have come from an incredible run of finishes other than his five wins. Morikawa has had four second-place and 20 Top 10 finishes throughout his young career.
He has well and truly cemented himself on the global stage but his win in Dubai secured him a chapter in golfing history as he became the first American to win the Order of Merit, now known as the Race to Dubai.
Collin Morikawa became the first American to win the Race to Dubai at the DP World Tour championship
Despite his early success, he sounded a warning to his peers that the end to 2021 would not be the end to his victories.
‘Win more,’ was Morikawa’s blunt assessment of his main goal for 2022.
‘It’s not an encore, it’s not a swansong farewell to what I’m doing in 2021,’ he said, via Sky Sports.
‘I’m going to set some high goals. I always have. I’m going to set the bar as high as I can get and keep going.
‘I’m still not No 1 in the world, so I still have a lot to work on in my game.
The American warned his peers his success is not over as he targets nabbing the No 1 spot from Spaniard Jon Rahm (above)
‘Obviously this week was good. I still thought I wasn’t playing amazing, but I made do. I was able to make some putts here and there.
‘Hit some great chip shots, made some up-and-downs and some crucial par saves out here and that’s what you need.
‘So I still think there’s a ton to work on. That’s just kind of the nature of how my mind works and how I work: I just want more.
‘I know I’m going to enjoy this one a lot, especially since it’s at the end of the year, but there’s a lot more from me hopefully.’
Morikawa’s consistency is key to his well-stocked bank account as the 24-year-old made the cut in each of his first 22 starts on the tour, his streak falling three short of the record set by the one-and-only Tiger Woods.
He shows further shades of the icon’s stunning emergence as he stands on the brink of becoming the second fastest player to reach World No 1.
Morikawa could pip Jordan Spieth who made it to No 1 in 77 starts, if he achieves the feat in his next few events in the New Year.
Morikawa could pip Jordan Spieth (pictured) to become the second fastest player to reach World No 1
He could beat Spieth’s rise to the top with tournaments to spare as his 61st start came in December at the Hero World Challenge, meaning he has 16 events left before reaching his compatriot’s 77.
It would be an impressive feat but just to put it into perspective, Tiger did it in just 21.
In his second ever major appearance – and his first at the PGA Championship – Morikawa won in 2020 to beat the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson on his maiden voyage to the tournament.
He followed the major win with another in 2021. This time to lift the Claret Jug on the gruelling Royal St George’s links – again on his debut at the tournament.
The win saw him become the first ever golfer to win two major championships on two major debuts, as well as the first man since Woods to win both the Open and PGA Championship before the age of 25.
The 24-year-old won his first major event at the PGA Championship in August 2020
Morikawa won the Open at Royal St George’s to become a two-time major winner before 25
He missed the chance to snatch the World No 1 crown from Jon Rahm in December after imploding on the final day of the the Hero World Challenge to throw away a five-shot lead.
But the young hotshot won’t have been too bothered as the blip at the charity event only delayed his inevitable rise to the top, while he still topped up his bank account with another $127,500 (£97,000) and got engaged to his long-time girlfriend and Pepperdine collegiate golfer Katherine Zhu.
Close friend and roommate that week, Viktor Hovland scooped up the top prize of $1m after a stunning round of six-under 66 after shooting eagle-eagle-birdie on the back nine.
Morikawa got engaged to his long-time girlfriend Katherine Zhu (right) in December
Viktor Hovland (right) won the Hero World Challenge after Morikawa threw away his lead
The Resort King, whose four PGA/Hero wins have come in Mexico twice, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, and Morikawa turned pro together in 2019, alongside Oklahoma alum Matt Wolff.
Hovland, the first Norwegian to win on the European Tour, is hot on Morikawa’s heels at World No 7 with five professional wins but has pocketed just $11,570,117 (£8.7m) in comparison – still a figure that sets every amateur’s mouth watering.
Undoubtedly, the promising youngsters, who faced off in the Ryder Cup Sunday singles and halved the match, will be raking in the millions for decades to come.
The Norwegian secured half a point for Team Europe after halving his match against Morikawa at the Ryder Cup in September
It is not just the two hotshots who are hitting these mega-money figures as winnings in the millions have become the normal for most tour pros and the rise in purses can be directly tied to the rise of Woods.
In his first full season on tour in 1997, when he captured his first Masters, the 18 million-dollar winners doubled from the previous year, according to Golf Digest.
That number went on to rise by about eight to 10 every year, reaching 45 in 2000 and 93 in 2006.
In comparison, five years before Woods turned pro players earned an average of $146,000 (£109,950) for the season.
Five years after he arrived, they averaged $650,000 (£489,505), and 55 players made at least $1m (£753,085).
Tiger Woods (pictured winning his first masters in 1997) can be linked to the rise in purses
Patrick Cantlay banked an astonishing £11m after winning the Fed Ex Cup in September
In the last PGA Tour season that wrapped up with the Tour Championship in September, where Patrick Cantlay won the FedEx Cup and $15m (£11m), a record 124 players earned at least $1m in tournament prize money payouts.
Over the last decade, the top season earner (not including bonuses) has made between $7m (£5m) and $9m (£6.7m), with Jordan Spieth topping that group when his five wins in 2015 pushed him to $12m (£9m).
One thing is for sure, as the winnings on the tour increase, every shot counts – a whole lot more.
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