Y! Sports Biz: Adjusting for golflation

News

Finance

Sports

Mail

Story by

Story by
Y! Sports Biz: Adjusting for golflation

Dylan Dittrich Staff writer

Mon, August 31, 2026 at 3:52 PM UTC ·

12 min read

About Our Ads

👋 Welcome back!Let's get down to biz.

In today's edition:Getting real about Scottie's career earnings record, Huskers volleyball is setting the standard, KD is slim-reaping investment gains, CFB jerseys are vacant, Nike rushes to campus, and more.

Time to show you the money...

⛳️ Scottie passed Tiger. Golflation says otherwise.

Scottie Scheffler ended the last tournament of the PGA Tour season as he so often does: by cashing a massive check. With his victory at the Tour Championship, Scheffler passed Tiger Woods for first all-time in official PGA Tour earnings .

Leader in the clubhouse:With Sunday's $10 million prize, Scheffler's official money total increased to over $130 million, leaving Woods' $121 million safely in the rearview.1Rory McIlroy sits at $119.6 million and will likely pass Woods early next season.

Add an asterisk:Scheffler, just 30 years old, has claimed the top spot remarkably fast, needing just 170 starts to Woods' 378 and McIlroy's 287. Take nothing away from his dominance, but when it comes to dollars, the fight isn't particularly fair. First, there's the obvious: If you inflation-adjust the three players' earnings, translating their winnings to present-day dollars, Woods' advantage remains sizable.

But that's not all:Adjusting their earnings based on broad inflation doesn't quite tell the whole story. Golf earnings have risen far faster than inflation since Woods' career began. So, we need to adjust for golf lation.

To do that, we looked at the Tour average (as reported by the PGA Tour) for total money in every season dating back to 1996. By comparing the Tour average in 2026 to those historical averages, we can create a multiplier to translate each golfer's historical earnings into today's PGA Tour dollars.2
For context, this season's total money average was $1,616,669. In 1996, the first season Tiger Woods cut a check, that average was just $162,275.
After adjusting for golflation, the fight quickly becomes a blowout. If Woods were operating at the peak of his powers in today's era, he would've earned over $362 million. Scheffler's pace lags Tiger's, but writing another dominant chapter like this one could change that.

Reality check:Woods has won 82 tournaments, including 15 majors, to Scheffler's 22 and 4. That Scheffler's ascent to the money summit requires a few caveats should surprise nobody. But at the peak of their powers, the two legends — yes, Scottie earns that label — have operated on the same plane.

On our golflation-adjusted basis, Tiger's 1999 ($32.9 million) and 2000 ($34.4 million) seasons rank as the highest-earning of all time.
Scottie's 2024 and 2026 seasons are effectively in a dead heat for third at $31.0 million and $30.9 million, respectively.
Crazy stat: In 2000, Tiger won 63% of the potential money available to him, well clear of Scheffler's 51% best in 2024.

Game recognize game:If there's one person who doesn't need to see this analysis, it's Scottie Scheffler. Asked about passing Tiger before the tournament began, Scheffler replied very astutely.

"You're comparing kind of apples and oranges. But I think a lot of the success we've had out here, especially when you look at it from a financial perspective, Tiger has a lot to do with that. The reason our purses are so large today is because of [his] influence and impact. So I wouldn't really consider that a Tiger record being broken. I think it just shows one of the many effects that he's had on the game of golf."

All green, no envy:Of course, when you've led the PGA's money list for the last five seasons and amassed $130 million in official earnings alone by the age of 30, there's little reason to be concerned with rankings or inflation of any kind.

1The official money totals do not include money earned from FedEx Cup bonuses or the discontinued Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10. Those add an additional $92 million to Scheffler's growing pile.

2 This methodology may be imperfect, but it charts a course based on how average earnings have increased through the years. Tiger's dominance may still be understated, given the growth at the top end of major and signature event purses available to the game's elite like Scheffler.

📸Money on the Field

Zurich, Switzerland —Brazilian Alison dos Santos claimed an unexpected world record in the men's 400-meter hurdles at the Zurich Diamond League, running 45.80. American Masai Russell also broke the world record in the women's 100-meter hurdles, with a time of 12.09.

Diamond dollars: As depicted on the customary gigantic check, the world record breakers received an $80,000 bonus for their accomplishments. Winning a Diamond+ discipline event pays a $20,000 prize .

Arlington, Texas —Nebraska won Thursday night's Spikes Under the Lights at AT&T Stadium, a four-team exhibition featuring some of the nation's top volleyball programs.

How 'bout those Huskers? Each team received $200,000 for participating, and the Cornhuskers won an additional $150,000 in the million-dollar tournament . The Huskers remain among the most popular teams in college sports, driving even greater social media value for Nebraska than football. Their next stop? Wrigley Field for a tilt with Missouri.

London, England —Chelsea won a thrilling end-to-end match 4-3 against Brighton, beginning their season unblemished.

Sponsor secured: Chelsea had entered its fourth straight season without a front-of-shirt sponsor, but the club announced an agreement on Friday with Circle Internet Group to market the company's USDC stablecoin. Chelsea's front-of-shirt and training kit sponsors are both crypto companies (crypto exchange BingX sponsors the latter). Sunderland is now the lone Premier League club without a front-of-shirt sponsor.

📈 The Slim Reaper reaps gains

If not for an unusually lanky presence in Hugging Face's cap table, Nvidia's acquisition of the open-source AI platform may have gone unnoticed in the sports world last week — just another behemoth of the AI boom adding another weapon to its AI arsenal.

Slim Reaper, heavy gains:When Kevin Durant, one of the most prolific athlete-investor dual threats in history, notches another massive investing win in a growing line of them, people pay attention. The basketball legend may be as cerebral navigating the tech investing landscape as he is dissecting opposing defenses.

Durant invested in Hugging Face back in 2017, when the company was a chatbot app.
Last week, Nvidia bought the company for $12.9 billion.

Prolific portfolio:Durant's portfolio, amassed primarily via Thirty Five Ventures , is as expansive as it is impressive. His stable of sports holdings is enviable (LOVB, Philadelphia Union, Paris Saint-Germain, Gotham FC). However, given last week's news, we're focusing today on his murderer's row of early-stage tech investments. The below victories (plus Hugging Face) only scratch the surface.

WHOOP:Invested in 2017, a year before it was valued at $125 million , and again in the company's Series E at a $1.2 billion valuation. WHOOP was valued at $10.1 billion in a March 2026 Series G.
Robinhood: Invested in Robinhood at a $1.2 billion valuation in 2017. The company was valued at $32 billion in its 2021 IPO, and its market cap today is $93 billion.
Coinbase: Invested at a $1.6 billion valuation in the company's 2017 Series D. Coinbase opened trading in 2021 at a valuation near $100 billion, though its market cap today is $48 billion.
Postmates:Invested in 2016, reportedly netting Durant $15 million when Uber bought the company for $2.65 billion.

Golden opportunity in the Golden State:Durant played for the Warriors from 2016 to 2019. He initiated each of the above investments during that period. Today, his track record ensures he's a desirable name to list on any cap table no matter where he's playing, but his time spent so proximate to Silicon Valley kickstarted a remarkable investing career.

Student to teacher:An athlete's notoriety can create significant access to top-tier investments, particularly in early-stage rounds when their fame drives outsized attention from media and consumers. But as that access creates expertise and investments bear fruit, a different signal emerges: The best, like Durant, are worth shadowing for the next fifty-bagger.

⚡Lightning Round

🏒 Cale Makar rewrites NHL record books:Cale Makar and the Avalanche agreed to an eight-year, $163.2 million extension that will pay the 27-year-old defenseman an average annual value of $20.2 million. Makar is the first NHL player to cross that $20 million threshold, ending Macklin Celebrini's short-lived reign atop the NHL AAV charts. It's the third time the league's AAV record has been broken this offseason.

⛳️ LIV preparing for bankruptcy filing:LIV Golf may file for bankruptcy as soon as next week, according to the Financial Times . The league has reportedly offered players settlements worth just cents on the dollar of the remaining balance on their contracts. The Financial Times also reported that BC Partners is exploring an investment that would use the league's net operating losses in creating a "roll up" of other sports assets.

🏈 Bills' new stadium needs new grass:With their move to the new Highmark Stadium, the Bills switched from the artificial turf at Ralph Wilson to a natural grass surface. However, that surface drew criticism in the preseason, forcing the team to replace it before its Week 2 home opener. While players have expressed a preference for natural grass, the grass is not always greener, as another data point is added to the debate.

See what else is trending on the Yahoo Sports Business Hub .

🏈 College football's ad vacancy

The college football amuse bouche that is Week 0 is behind us. The main course arrives this weekend, and despite the inaugural allowance of commercial sponsor patches on team uniforms, only 25% of Power 4 programs will take the field with a commercial logo (other than Nike, Adidas, and the like) emblazoned on their chests.

Water warmed:With five out of 16 members agreeing to patch deals at the school level, the Big 12 has been the most commercially active conference.

The Big 12 inked a conference-wide patch deal with Monster , worth a reported $20 million per year, but that deal does not preclude schools from landing their own individual sponsors.
With their uniforms already busied and ammunition needed to keep pace with Big Ten and SEC competition, Big 12 schools haven't hesitated.

Investing in the next gen:Of the 17 deals announced to date, six are with companies in financial services, the most of any industry.

Premium space available:Some of the nation's biggest brands have not yet announced patch deals, including Texas and Oregon. Don't count on that to change, at least not immediately.

Texas AD Chris Del Conte has previously suggested the school won't add patches, calling their uniforms sacred ground .
Oregon is almost synonymous with Nike, serving as a flagship school, and Nike athletes in other sports like tennis and golf are recognizable for their clean appearance, with the Swoosh unaccompanied by other corporate logos.

Yes, but:Could the deals inked by Notre Dame and Ohio State, approaching $20 million in value, force even the most hesitant schools to reconsider?

📆 This Day in History: All-Started

The NFL axed the Pro Bowl last week. But long before the Pro Bowl even began in 1951, the NFL contested all-star games that might've settled all of the "Who would win, Alabama or the Browns?" debates that littered Nick Saban's heyday.

On this day in 1934,the NFL played its first Chicago Charities College All-Star Game, a preseason fixture that pitted the NFL's reigning champions against a team of college stars.

Tale of the tape:That first game, featuring the Bears, ended 0-0, and though watching grass grow might've made for better entertainment, the game was played almost every year until 1976 (including an appearance by Gerald Ford in a 5-0 loss to the Bears in 1935). The NFL team went 31-9-2 all-time. It's probably safe to say the Browns would've been safe against even the most fearsome Tide teams.

End of the road:The 1977 edition of the game was ultimately scrapped as NFL coaches balked at releasing their draft picks to play among the college all-stars due to rising salaries and associated insurance costs , the latter of which doubled the prior year. The game raised approximately $4 million for Chicago charities over its more than four decades of existence.

Merely a memory:Fast forward 50 years, and you scarcely hear the Chicago game mentioned, if at all. A similar fate awaits the Pro Bowl half a century from now.

🔢 Trivia time: Rounding out the rankings

Question:Scottie, Tiger, and Rory's places atop the all-time PGA money rankings are well cemented, but can you name No. 4 and No. 5 on the list?

Hint:One LIV, one PGA Tour.

Answer at the bottom.

🎓 Nike rushes to campus

With its stock down 76% in the last five years, Nike is fighting to claw back its cool factor among younger consumers. The latest proving ground for the brand? College campuses.

Going Greek:Nike was the ancient Greek goddess of victory, so perhaps it's fitting that the Swoosh is suddenly featuring prominently in the TikTok phenomenon created by sorority rush events across the country, better known as #RushTok.

Ellyn Briggs, Front Office Sports:

Throughout August, Nike sponsored rush events for at least six sororities at colleges across the country, including South Carolina, Texas, and Arizona State.

Nike supplied some of its latest training, running, and sportswear products to sisters, who donned the gear in videos posted to their personal and sorority-wide social media channels — often to the tune of millions of views. Giant Nike-branded banners featured prominently in the background of most videos, usually unfurled over the stone columns of the chapters' Greek Revival houses.

Keep reading: Why Is Nike Suddenly Part of Sorority Rush Season?

Trivia Answer:No. 4 is Phil Mickelson ($96.7 million). No. 5 is Justin Rose ($79.3 million).

Thanks for reading! Wanna talk shop? Follow me on X and Linkedin , or drop me a line: dylan.dittrich@yahooinc.com .

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: